W^ '^% '^-'^^&. >\-.^ 1 .^w^'^-^.^. ^ ^ -^ ^'^'Ji:v)>^^ „^ i^^ V v> -: T V^ ^0^, <■= ,0 y 0' '' .^^ A V O V ^"-^^, ^A^. -"^^^ ,9^^ .^" ^ A> ^ -,;*.j>^. ^ <>. -^o <^ #' .•■■ "oV v^ '^^ ,^- ' .^' '•^ 1^ u .^^ v^. V-^^ ■a? ^ T'Y^-", -^ Or ° *> ^oV" '^0^ A Demonstration of Patriotism as Expressed Throughout the United States At Independence Hall, on the groiind where, 141 years ago, the fathers of our repubhc declared behef in the inahenable right of man to hfe, hberty and the pursuit ot happiness, 100,000 citizens of Phihidelphia renewed their oath of allegiance to the Constitution and pledged loyal support in any action necessary to the protection of Anaerican rights upon land and sea. AMERICA AND THE GREAT WAR FOR HUMANITY AND FREEDOM BY WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON, A.M., L.H.D. Honorary Professor of the History of American Foreign Relations in New York University; AUTHOR OF 'America's Foreign Relations," "A Century of Expansion," Etc., Etc. ILLUSTRATED WITH MORE THAN 100 PLANS, MAPS, DIAGRAMS, DRAWINGS AND REPRO- DUCTIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHS Philadelphia THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY Publishers Copyright, 1917, by L. T. Myers in srz m I9l9f7 ^C|,A467486 To Our Allies Author's Note Portions of some chapters of this work have hith- erto been printed in signed articles by the author in The New York Tribune, The Boston Evening Transcript, and The Newark News, to which jour- nals grateful acknowledgments are made. PREFACE IT IS MY PURPOSE in this volume to give an account of the entry of America into the War of the Nations. I shall relate the histories of some of the chief belligerents suffi- ciently to indicate the trend of their policies toward those conditions and complications which afforded pretexts for the war; and the history of the war itself sufficiently to make clear the manner in which it was begun and the manner in which it has been waged. In this we shall see not only the abundant justification but also the imperative necessity of our participation in the conflict. I shall endeavor to give some account of the military and other potency of the various belligerent nations, and of the resources upon which they rely for support in the struggle; of the disregard of law and humanity which has character- ized the conduct of the war; of its unparalleled and almost incredible destructiveness, much of it wanton and malicious; and of the transcendent world-wide issues which are at stake. ' I shall give much attention to the army and navy estab- lishments of the United States and the details of their organization and operation; to the gross lack of adequate preparedness from which we suffered at the time of our entry into the war, due to our fatuous disregard of the admonitions of the founders of the Republic and our aban- donment of the wise and prudent policy which they enun- ciated; and to the vital need of our promptly awakening to a realization of what it means to be engaged in a world- wide war in which the integrity and the very lives of nations, including our own, are at stake. 5^ PREFACE I shall also attempt to show how crucial was the situation in Europe at the ''psychological moment" of our declara- tion of war, and how truly at that time the fate of humanity seemed to be hanging upon our decision and our action; and how momentous for ourselves and for others was the action of our government in accepting the hostile challenge of the German Empire. Concerning the magnitude of the theme there can be no question. The war which was begun by the Teutonic powers in the summer of 1914 brought the world face to face with what is probably the greatest crisis in its whole history. We might compare it with the Punic wars, which decided whether Rome or Carthage should rule the Medi- terranean and its shores; with the Greek and Persian wars, which determined whether European or Asiatic civilization should be dominant; with the Fall of Rome; with the Mohammedan conquests and the Crusades; with the Napo- leonic wars. But not one of these approximated the physical magnitude of this War of the Nations, or its moral and spiritual importance to the future of the whole human race. For the first time in our history, all the highest material and intellectual resources of civilization are arrayed in an effort to subvert and to destroy the moral and spiritual fruits of human progress. The drunken helot of Sparta is invested with all the arts of Athens. To such a conflict are we called, to declare, as truly as in 1776, that states and peoples have a right to independent government of their own choice; and to see to it, as truly as in 1863, that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." W. F. J. New York, May, 1917. CONTENTS Introduction page "ARGUMENTUM AD HUMANITATEM" 9 Prologue "THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC" 15 Chapter I THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE 17 Chapter II ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR 31 Chapter III THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD OF THE WORLD 41 Chapter IV STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS 69 Chapter V THE STORY OF RUSSIA 91 Chapter VI THE ALLIED POWERS 110 Chapter VII WAR POWERS OF EUROPE IN 1914 119 Chapter VIII THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR , 128 5 CONTENTS Chapter IX page THE WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 140 Chapter X THE WAR IN THE EAST 149 Chapter XI COLONIAL CONQUESTS 163 Chapter XII THE WAR AT SEA 169 Chapter XIII THE WAR IN THE AIR 183 Chapter XIV THE SINEWS OF WAR 193 Chapter XV GERMAN RELATIONS WITH AMERICA 203 Chapter XVI THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL POWER 212 Chapter XVII FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE 223 Chapter XVIII AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT 233 Chapter XIX OUR RESOURCES; ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL 238 6 CONTENTS Chapter XX page OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY 249 Chapter XXI THE MEANING OF THE WAR 259 Chapter XXII OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES 268 Chapter XXIII PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS 281 Chapter XXIV HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED 289 Chapter XXV WOMEN AND WAR WORK , 302 Chapter XXVI ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION 312 Chapter XXVII UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE 327 Chapter XXVIII THE MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR 338 Chapter XXIX THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM 345 Epilogue "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER" 352 7 INTRODUCTION Hrgumentum ab IHumanftatem il MERICAN intervention in the War of the Nations A^L was most timely, and most untimely. That is a paradox that is in both its statements entirely true and pertinent. It was timely and something more, so far as the needs of the Allies were concerned, for they were approaching peril- ously near to the limit of their strength and their endur- ance. The greatness of their need and the imminence of their peril were not generally understood, or known. It was not the policy of governments to pubhsh all the facts of their extremities and distresses to the world. But though unpubHshed, the grim facts were there. For the third time a psychological moment had come, and the cry "Help, or we perish!" was heard. The first such occasion was at the very beginning, when Belgium with almost godlike heroism and sacrifice with- stood for a little space the German onset, holding out in sheer desperation for a few days until France could mobilize her forces. Then Belgium broke, and the burden of the day fell upon France. The second was when, after the immortal Marne, the raUied armies of France "against great odds bare up the war" until England could be aroused from her non-militarist lethargy and could be brought to the aid of France. Not Leonidas at Thermopylae was more resolute than France when she said of the Hunnish hordes, "They shall not pass." The third came when the allied hosts of France and Eng- 9 INTRODUCTION land were threatened with exhaustion, not of valor but of supplies; and all they could do was to hold on grimly until we could come to their relief. They could fight. But they could not continue fighting without supphes, and those supplies must largely come from America, and with such coming the submarine pirates of Germany were ominously interfering. In spite of all that the Allies could do, the submarines were destroying their commerce far faster than they could replace it by building or by purchase. The losses amounted to hundreds of thousands of tons in a single week. At that rate even the gigantic mercantile marine of England would in a not long time be so depleted as to be quite insufficient for the carrying trade; and when thus supplies failed, the Allies would have to succumb. That was the condition with which the Allies were confronted at the beginning of April, 1917. The question has been asked, why the Allies did not use submarines, too, to counteract the German use of them. The answer is simple. There was nothing for them to be used against. Germany had no commercial marine at sea, and her fighting navy was fenced and screened in inland waters. She had no vessels at sea except the submarines, and they were practically immune against the attacks of others of the same kind. Submarines cannot efiiciently fight other submarines. There was thus nothing to do but to endure their losses as best they could, in earnest hope that America w^ould come to their relief and rescuebefore those losses became so great as to be fatal. France had been performing miracles of heroism for two years and a half. But she could not keep on forever. Her population was little more than half that of her chief adver- sary, and her store of manhood on which she could draw 10 INTRODUCTION was correspondingly less. By the spring of 1917 she was feeling the strain and the drain almost to desperation. She was in need of our help, even more than we had been in need of hers in the dark days of the Revolution. Italy was practically at a standstill. For months her armies had made no advance, so that it was possible to withdraw many Teutonic troops from that front for service in Northern France. Russia, after a long period of inactivity, had plunged into an anti-dynastic revolution. From one point of view, that was a great gain for the Allies, for it checked the German propaganda and meddhng which had during much of the war thus far been costly and at times disastrous to the Russian arms. Also, the example of the Russian democracy expelling the imperial dynasty and establishing a popular government had some effect upon the German proletariat and incited talk and agitation for radical reforms and even of a revolution in that country. On the other hand, it for the time greatly weakened the Russian mihtary aggressive, and left the Russian armies for a time so nearly a negligible a quantity that the Germans felt safe in trans- ferring hundreds of thousands of troops from the eastern to the western frontier. Great Britain was at the height of her power on land, and was maintaining her power at sea in all respects excepting against the elusive submarines. But she was of all the belligerents most dependent upon lands across the sea for the supplies which were essential not only to efficiency in the field but also to life itself. Already the pinch of restricted food supplies was felt, reserves w^ere much depleted, and the nation felt that it was living practically from hand to mouth. The stoppage of supplies, or even the considerable reduction of them, would be disastrous. 11 INTRODUCTION Indeed, not since the German drive at Paris was checked at the Marne had there been so ominous an outlook for the aUied powers, or had the possibihty of German victory been so great. It was in such a time of trial and almost of desperation that America projected herself into the war, with the immediate contribution of vast sums of money, with the promise of ships and troops a little later — at the middle of May American destroyers were cooperating with the British navy in the North Sea and American soldiers were on their way to France — and with the incalculable moral encouragement that such adherence afforded. It was timely, indeed, from the European point of view, and was thus recognized and gratefully acclaimed by the AlHes. As for Germany, she was obviously much perturbed; she realized how heavy a weight had been thrown into the scale against her. But she assumed to regard it lightly, and even refused to recognize the United States as a belligerent against her. The declaration of war was, on the other hand, most untimely for the United States itself. That was because of our condition of gross unreadiness. For years, and especially ever since the outbreak of the war, thoughtful and far-seeing men had been preaching the gospel of pre- paredness, but to httle avail. The government itself set its face like a flint against it. "We have not been unmind- ful of our defenses," it said. "We are not unready. If the President called for a million men at daybreak, they would all be in the ranks by sunset." With such siren songs America had lulled herself to sleep while all the world around her was in flames. The govern- ment made no preparations for war, nor even any plans for preparation. The result was that after the declaration of war there was deplorable and costly delay in preparing our 12 INTRODUCTION military establishment. It was not until after the middle of May, nearly six weeks after the declaration, that Congress agreed upon a law^ for the increase of the army by conscrip- tion. But even then the Secretary of War announced that while the conscription would be held on June 5, there would be no summoning of the men to the colors before about the first of September, because of lack of supplies for their equipment. That is to say, after nearly three years' warn- ing we were so unready for war that nearly five months must elapse after our declaration of war before we could so much as send recruits to training camps to begin their prep- aration for service on the battle front. The event was as untimely for us as it was timely for our allies. Nevertheless, it was inevitable; and it was well that it was precipitated upon us even in all our unreadiness. That is because without it we should never have taken a single effective step toward getting ready. It needed the rude shock of war to rouse the government and the people to a realization of their necessities, to a realization of the fact that "It's war we're in, not politics." In fact, even the declaration of war was scarcely sufiicient to bring that real- ization home to all. It was said, and truly, that England did not fully realize that she was at war with Germany so long as the fighting was confined to France and Flanders. It was not until German cruisers bombarded unfortified residence villages along the coast, and German Zeppelins dropped incendiary and murderous bombs upon defenseless towns and cities, that the nation was fully roused. No such shock as that was given to America, and the popular recognition of the state of war was consequently less prompt and less keen. But the realization grew, and became suflSciently clear to the majority of the people, and then preparation for the 13 INTRODUCTION strife was pressed with expedition and with inexorable resolution. Even late in May, 1917, the danger was not wholly past. The most judicious and informed men per- ceived that there was still a possibihty that Germany might win the war with her piratical submarines before America would be able to make her power felt. A year before Mr. Lloyd George was lamenting that in so many things England had been "Too late; always too late!" The balance quivered on the turning of a hair to decide whether our entry into the war was too late or was just in time. ^ It was evident that to make it just in time and not too late, the American nation must send men and ships to Europe as quickly as possible; that it must organize and operate a gigantic system of ocean transportation of sup- plies; and that it must so conserve its food supphes as to be able to feed its allies as well as itself for a year or two years to come. These were the conditions on which haply we could hope to avoid having the war transferred from Flanders and Picardy to our own Atlantic httoral. It was the psychological moment for America to intervene in the war. It was the psychological moment for every American to intervene with all his individual, personal might, to help the nation and its allies to win a victory commensurate in magnitude with the magnitude of the war itself; a victory for humanity as great as is the menace to humanity in the arrogant challenge of the Huns. 14 PROLOGUE THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have huilded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps. His day is marching on. I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel; "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal; Let the hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel. Since God is marching on.'^ He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on. 15 Chapter I THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE Another Great Event in April, the Month of Great Events — A Memorable Session of Congress — The President's Address CaUing for a Declaration of War with Germany — His Review of the Train of Events and Grievances which had Led to that Necessity — A War to be Waged for no Selfish Purpose, but for Humanity and for the Freedom of the World — Full Text of a Memorable Message — Its Favorable Reception by Congress and the Nation — How It was Regarded in Foreign Lands — Prompt Action by Congress in Adopting a Resolution Declar- ing that Germany had Begun War Against Us — The President's Proclamation of Our Entry into the World War. IT WAS April, the most famous month in American History. It was in April, 1135, that the Norsemen discovered Greenland on their way to the pre-Columbian discovery of America, and it was in April, 1492, that Columbus was recalled to the Spanish Court and was commissioned to sail upon his epoch-making voyage. It was in that same month, the "Month of Openings," that Ponce de Leon landed in Florida; that Cortez began the conquest of Mexico; that the Virginia colony was chartered; that Henry Hudson began the voyage in which he discovered the river which bears his name; that the Plymouth Pilgrims received their patent; that La Salle took possession of the Mississippi Valley for France; that the French and Indian War was begun; that taxation of the Colonies by Parliament without their representa- tion was first proposed. It was in April that our Revolution began at Lexington, Concord and Boston; that the American navy took its first prize in war; that Lafayette landed on our shores; that Arnold began his treason; 2 17 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE that the first American man-of-war was built; that the British Government sent peace commissioners to meet our own; that George HI ratified the treaty of peace with America, and that the ending of the War for Independence was proclaimed. It was in April that Washington designed the Stars and Stripes, and that the flag in its present form was first displayed. It was in April that Washington was elected and inaugurated President; that Louisiana was purchased; that the United States Mint was estab- lished; that the Mexican War was begun; that the Civil War was begun, and ended; that the Spanish War was begun and that the treaty of peace at its end was pro- claimed. It was in April that Putnam, Jefferson, Monroe, Clay and Grant were born, and that Lincoln suffered martyrdom. : It was the latest April in our history, in the year of our era 1917, and the second day of the month. Woodrow Wilson had less than a month before been installed as President of the United States for a second term. He had severed diplomatic relations with the German Empire, because of its atrocious and intolerable disregard of our rights and of the rights of humanity in the war which for two and a half years had been convulsing the continent of Europe; and he had called the newly elected Congress together in special session to consider what further steps were necessary for the safeguarding of American citizens and the vindication of the honor of the nation. Washington was thronged with interested citizens of eminence and influence from all parts of the country. The streets were crowded with spectators as the President, accompanied by a glittering cavalcade of guards, passed from the White House to the Capitol on one of the most momentous errands ever undertaken by an American 18 WooDRow Wilson Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States Theodore Roosevelt Former President of the United States, who offered to raise and lead a large army to France. THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE Chief of State. The great hall of the House of Repre- sentatives was thronged with a brilliant company — the two Houses of Congress on the floor and diplomats, officials of civil and military service, and citizens, in the galleries — as at half-past eight the President stepped upon the Speaker's platform, and voiced the demand of the American nation for a war for the freedom of the world. This is what he said : THE president's WAR MESSAGE I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permis- sible that I should assume the responsibility of making. On the 3d of February last I officially laid before you the extraor- dinary announcement of the Imperial German Government, that on and after the 1st day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe, or any of the ports con- trolled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine war- fare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the imperial govern- ment had somewhat restrained the commanders of its under-sea craft, in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk, and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meagre and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. FINAL INDICTMENT OF GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destina- 19 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE tion, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the prescribed areas by the German Government itself, and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle. I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the attempt to set up some law, which would be respected and observed upon the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been built up, with meagre enough results, indeed, after all was accomplished that could be accomplished, but always with a clear view at least of what the heart and conscience of mankind demanded. BECAUSE IT HAD NO WEAPONS BUT THESE This minimum of right the German Government has swept aside under the plea of retaliation and necessity, and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these, which it is impossible to employ as it is employing them without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for the miderstandings that were supposed to underlie the intercourse of the world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men, women and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. GERMAN WARFARE IS AGAINST MANKIND The present German warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly 20 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion. IT NOW APPEAES ARMED NEUTRALITY IS IMPRACTICABLE When I addressed the Congress on the 26th of February last I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neu- trality, it now appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when used as the German submarines have been used, against merchant shipping, it is impos- sible to defend ships against their attacks, as the law of nations has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves against pri- vateers or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open sea. It is common prudence in such circumstances — grim necessity, indeed — to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own inten- tion. They must be dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. The German Government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has proscribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which we have placed on om^ merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circum- stances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual; it is likely to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effec- tiveness of belligerents. THERE IS ONE CHOICE WE CANNOT MAKE There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making: We will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred 21 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The \\Tongs against which we now array ourselves are not common wrongs; they cut to the veiy roots of human life. IN FACT NOTHING LESS THAN WAR With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it, and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thor- ough state of defense, but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the government of the German Empire to terms and end the war. WHAT THIS WILL INVOLVE IS CLEAR What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable cooperation in counsel and action with the goveniments now at war with Germany, and, as incident to that, the extension to those govern- ments of the most liberal financial credits in order that our resources may, so far as possible, be added to theirs. It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material resources of the country to supply the materials of war and serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible. It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects, but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy's submarines. It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United States, already provided for by law in case of war, at least 500,000 men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of universal liability to service; and also the authorization of subsequent additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training. It will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can equitably be 22 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE sustained by the present generation, by well-conceived taxation. I say sustained so far as may be by equitable taxation because it seems to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits which will now be necessary entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most respectfully urge, to protect our people so far as we may against the very serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the inflation which would be produced by vast loans. MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH ALLIED MUNITIONS In cariymg out the measures by which these things are to be accom- plished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering as Uttle as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our own military forces with the duty — for it will be a very practical duty — of supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the field, and we should help them in every way to be effective there. I shall take the liberty of suggesting, through the several executive departments of the government, for the consideration of your com- mittees measures for the accompUshment of the several objects I have mentioned. I hope that it will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been framed after very careful thought by the branch of the government upon which the responsibility of conducting the war and safeguarding the nation will most directly fall. WHILE WE DO THESE THINGS While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and normal course by the unhappy events of the last two months, and I do not believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by them. I have exactly the same thing in mind now that I had in mind when I addressed the Senate on the 22d of January last; the same that I had in mind when I addressed the Congress on the 3d of February and on the 26th of February. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and the justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up among the really free and 23 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth insure the observance of those principles. ONE MORALITY FOR NATIONS AND PERSONS Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic govern- ments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We have seen the last of neutrality in such circumstances. '-• We are at the beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and their govern- ments that are observed among the individual citizens of civilized states. WE HAVE NO QUARREL WITH THE GERMAN PEOPLE We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling toward them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellowmen as pawns and tools. Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. Such designs can be successfully worked only under cover and where no one has the right to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, carried, it may be, from generation to generation, can be worked out and kept from the Ught only within the privacy of courts or behind the carefully guarded confidences of a narrow and priv- ileged class. They are happily impossible where public opinion commands and insists upon full information concerning all the nation's affairs. 24 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE IT MUST BE A LEAGUE OF HONOR A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render account to no one would be a cor- ruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own. HERB IS A FIT PARTNER Does not every American feel that assurance has been added to our hope for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening things that have been happening within the last few weeks in Russia? Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thought, in all the intimate relationships of her people that spoke for their natural instinct, their habitual attitude toward life. Autocracy that crowned the summit of her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the reality of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, in character or purpose, and now it has been shaken, and the great, generous Russian people have been added in all their native majesty and might to the forces that are fighting for freedom in the world, for justice and for peace. Here is a fit partner for a league of honor. SPIES WERE HERE BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN One of the things that have served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government with spies and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of council, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed, it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts of justice, that the intrigues, which have more 25 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the country, have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direction, of official agents of the imperial government accredited to the government of the United States. Even in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them, because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or purpose of the German people toward us (who were, no doubt, as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish designs of a government that did what it pleased and told its people nothing. But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last that that government entertains no real friendship for us, and means to act against our peace and security at its convenience. FOR THE ULTIMATE PEACE OF THE WORLD That it means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know that in such a government, following such methods, we can never have a friend, and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in wait to accompUsh we know not what purpose, there can be no assured security for the democratic governments of the world. We are now about to accept gage of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretence about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included, for the rights of nations great and small, and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the trusted foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights 26 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE have been as secure as the faith and the freedom of the nation can make them. Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish objects, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations us bel- ligerents without passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. WILL DEAL WITH AUSTRIA LATER I have said nothing of the governments allied with the imperial government of Germany, because they have not made war upon us or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro- Hungarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified endorse- ment and acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without disguise by the imperial government, and it has therefore not been possible for this government to receive Count Tarnowski, the ambassador recently accredited to this government by the imperial and royal government of Austria-Hungary, but that government has not actually engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with the author- ities at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights. BECAUSE WE ACT WITHOUT ANIMUS It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity toward a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irre- sponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us — however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship — exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. 27 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE THE MILLIONS OF GERMAN BIRTH WHO LIVE AMONG US We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friend- ship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst u'' and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. IF THERE SHOULD BE DISLOYALTY If there should be disloyalty it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there, and without countenance, except from a lawless and malignant few. It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts — for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. PRIVILEGED TO SPEND HER BLOOD To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, every- thing that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other. 28 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE This address was received with extraordinary expres- sions of approval by the members of Congress present and by the occupants of the galleries. The press and public of America, with almost unprecedented unanimity hailed it with grateful satisfaction. It was similarly received in Great Britain, France, and the other allied nations of Europe, and also in South America, where Brazil and other powers immediately began considering the question of following the example of the United States in declaring war against the arch-foe of democracy and of humanity. In Germany the fuU text of the address was withheld by the censorship from general circulation. Among the government officials it caused a mingling of rage and fear, the latter passion being but ill-concealed. There was at first an attempt made to pretend that it did not matter, that the United States would be a negligible quantity in the war; but such words rang hollow, and the real thought of official Germany was that fearful odds were being cast against the Central Powers by the entrance of America into the fray. PROMPT ACTION OF CONGRESS Immediately upon the conclusion of the President's address a resolution declaring war against Germany, or rather accepting the war which Germany had already begun against the United States, was introduced into both Houses of Congress. Brief debates followed, in which very few members ventured to oppose what was known to be the overwhelming will of the people. In the Senate one day's delay was caused by the opposition of Senator La FoUette, of Wisconsin, but late on the evening of April 4th the resolution was adopted by a vote of 82 to 6. 29 THE CALL TO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE The next day the House took it up, and before morning of April 6th adopted it by a vote of 373 to 50. At eleven minutes after one o'clock on the afternoon of April 6th — Good Friday — the President affixed his signa- ture to the resolution, and that moment marked the official entrance of the United States into the World War. TEXT OF THE WAR ACT The resolution declaring the war which Germany had forced upon us was as follows: Whereas, The Imperial German Government has com- mitted repeated acts of war against the government and the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States. Immediately after affixing his signature to the war resolution, the President issued a proclamation announcing the same, calling upon all American citizens to give their loyal support to the government and the laws, and pre- scribing and establishing various rules and regulations concerning the conduct and disposition of alien enemies found within the jurisdiction of the United States. 30 Chapter II ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR Pretexts and Causes — Ancient Inter-Racial Rivalries and Conflicts — Nations Seeking Places "In the Sun" — The Quest of Free Outlet to the High Seas — Russia's Age-Long Struggles Toward Open Water — Oiu: Own Fight for the Sea — Austria and the Adriatic — Looking Toward Salonica — Serbia's Need of a Sea Coast — The Annexation of Novi Bazar — Austrian Designs Against Serbia — Germany the Master Hand — Imperial Schemes in Mesopotamia and the Far East — Planning for World-Wide Empire — The German North Sea Frontage — The War Begun on the World's Most Famous Battlefield. BOTH THE pretexts and the causes of the World War — and pretexts and causes are often very different things — were varied and complex. The former were in some measure contradictory. First of all, there was Austria-Hungary's wrath over the assassination of the heir to the thrones, and her demands upon Serbia for such amends as could be made. Next there was Russia's preparation to protect Serbia against oppression and spoliation. Then there was Ger- many's intervention to protect her ally from Russian attack. There was Germany's complaint, afterward ad- mitted to have been quite false, that French aviators had committed hostile invasion of the empire, on which account war was declared against France. Later there was the pretence that Germany had discovered a plot of the other powers to attack and oppress her and to deprive her of her rightful ''place in the sun." But, as a matter of fact, there were involved certain racial rivalries and national ambitions dating much further back than any of these things; some of the principles being almost as old as human history. 31 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR From the earliest times nations have generally been divided into two rival camps, antagonistic if not openly belligerent; and at intervals during and since the classic age some nation sought and has been seeking a laj^ger ^' place in the sun," or more free access to the high seas. The strife of Iran against Turan was the burden of the Epic of Kings. The strife of classic Greece, from Miltiades to Alexander of Macedon, was a war of continents and civilizations, the soul of Europe against the mass of Asia. Rome in turn long stood on the one side and the rest of the world on the other. Later the Western Empire was arrayed against the Gauls and Goths, and the Eastern Empire against the Slavs and the Turks. In the days of the Crusades Europe was again arrayed against Asia. After that it was the Latin against the Teutonic race, a strife which was maintained down to within our own recollection, in the ''Terrible Year" between France and Germany. The present war at first assumed the aspect of a new alignment, that of Teuton against Slav. That appeared in Austria's attack upon Serbia, Russia's championship of Serbia, and Germany's defiance to Russia. Later, however, such lines were largely swept aside in a mad welter of all races and nations. Teuton and Slav, Latin and Anglo-Saxon, Tartar and Turk, Hindoo and Mongolian, were all inextricably mingled. THE QUEST OF THE SEA As often of old, too, it was a fight for access to the sea. The cry of Xenophon's Ten Thousand, ''Thalatta! Tha- latta!" has been repeated, in desire or in reahzation, by many a nation in many a campaign. It was the sea that the Phoenicians sought in their colonizations, thirty-one 32 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR centuries ago; and that the Dorians sought thirty centuries back, when they supplanted the Pelasgi in the Pelopon- nesus. It was the sea that the Assyrians sought when they overran Syria, and that the Babylonians sought when they conquered Judea and Egypt. It was the sea that Darius and his Persians sought when they invaded Thrace and oppressed the Greek colonies of Asia Minor. When at last the powers fronting on the Great Sea were supreme over all others, the strife to reach the sea was ended for a time, and was transformed into a struggle for the sea's control. But later, when again great inland powers arose, the old quest was renewed. The so-called ''Will of Peter the Great" is notoriously a sheer invention, sprung upon the world by Napoleon Bonaparte for the furtherance of his own purposes. But it is quite true in its expression of the unresting efforts of the great Slav power to gain an outlet upon an unfrozen sea. "a window looking upon Europe" Peter secured at the capital to which he gave his name what he described as "a window looking upon Europe"; but it was a window too much barred with frost, and the same is to be said of all the Russian conquests along the Baltic. The great Catherine gained a frontage on the Euxine, but the ''narrowing Symplegades " were still between her and the high seas of the world. A march was made across Siberia to the Pacific, to get only an ice-locked harbor and to find Japan blocking the way to warmer waters. Longing eyes have been cast toward the North Atlantic, but miles of Sweden and Norway intervene. An essay has been made toward the Persian GuK, but there Great Britain is in the way. Russian 3 33 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR history for two hundred years has been a story of efforts to reach the open sea. OUR OWN SEA-SEEKING Nor has Russia been singular in that quest. Four times has our own country been party to it. Once was when we were ready to fight France and the world for an outlet down the Mississippi, and a second essay was at the same time, when pioneers were sent over the mountains to win a title to the Pacific Coast. The third time was in the days of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" with two nations contending for Oregon and its ocean frontage; and the fourth was when Canada vainly sought to break through our Alaskan Panhandle for a short cut from the Klondike to the sea. AUSTRIA AND THE ADRIATIC Still more to the present purpose, Austria-Hungary has long been seeking the sea, or more of the sea. There have been many ill-advised jests directed at Shakespeare for speaking of the sea-coast of Bohemia, showing chiefly the ignorance of those who make them; for the fact is, of course, that prior to Shakespeare's time, as that poet doubtless knew, Bohemia was a maritime power, with an extensive and important frontage upon the sea — ^much of the very same coast which Austria possessed after she had acquired Bohemia, and some of which she still possesses. It was largely for the frontage on the sea that Austria so prized and clung to Venetia, and it is for the same cause that she now chiefly values Kustenland. But that Istrian frontage is insufficient and unsatis- factory. It contains only the one port of Trieste and the one watering place of Abbazia, while Croatia, adjoin- 34 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR ing, gives to Hungary only the one port of Fiume. No wonder that it was determined, at all hazards and at the sacrifice of plighted faith, to seize the Serb provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to secure an ample hinterland for the tenuous Dalmatian littoral, and thus to give the Dual Realm an effective sea-coast of more than three hundred miles. No wonder, either, that it was similarly determined to set up the puppet state of Albania, to be a practical appanage of Austria and to give that power some hundreds of miles more of coast, almost con- tinuous from Dalmatia southward, to and beyond the Strait of Otranto, with a frontage not merely on the Adriatic, but also on the open Ionian Sea. LOOKING TOWARD SALONICA There was another and perhaps a still stronger purpose in the rape of the Serb provinces. That was to push toward another sea, the ^gean, by way of Novi Bazar, the Vardar Valley and Salonica. That had been Austria's ambition for many years. More than once she had prac- tically offered to support Russia in seizing Constantinople if Russia would support her in seizing Salonica. She had sought to secure sanction for such expansion at the Berlin Congress of 1878, and though she then failed her whole Eastern poHcy thereafter had been directed to that end. To that end she had alternately cajoled and bullied Serbia, striving to make and keep that country dependent upon her. And the most maddening blow that Austria had received since the loss of Venetia was that inflicted by Serbia in the Balkan War of 1912, in annexing Novi Bazar and Kossovo and forming a political union with Montenegro, thus throwing a complete barrier across Austria's path to the JEgean. That barrier could not 35 ANTECEDENTS OF TH E WORLD WAR be turned, and there is reason to believe that Austria in desperation resolved to break it down through the device of picking a quarrel with Serbia and waging a war of conquest. SERBIA AND THE SEA Serbia, too, had a desire for the sea. For centuries she had been shut up inland. Even when her independence was restored she remained occluded from the sea, and dependent upon Austria-Hungary for a route of com- munication with the rest of Europe, f^ NaturaUy she desired her old sea frontage, of Dalmatia and Albania. The Austrian seizure of Bosnia and Herzegovina destroyed for a time her hope of an outlet in that direction. But she did expect as the fruit of her heroism in the war with Turkey to be permitted to take Scutari. When that was denied her, through Austrian opposition, her resentment against that power was greatly increased and confirmed. More than that. She had at any rate taken Novi Bazar and thus made herself directly contiguous with Monte- negro,"a state as purely Serb as Serbia herself. The next step was logical and formidable. It was to make a com- pact with Montenegro for the organic union of the two nations. That was done just before the beginning of the World War. It was agreed that so long as Nicholas of Montenegro lived, he should remain an independent sovereign. But upon his death, his son should not suc- ceed him but should abdicate in favor of the King of Serbia. Then the two kingdoms would become one. AUSTRIAN DESPERATION Now this Serbo-Montenegrin compact, which was for a time kept secret, became known at Vienna only a little 38 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR while before the fatal visit of the Austrian heir-presumptive to Sarajevo. As might be supposed, it created a profound sensation and aroused both consternation and wrath. It was recognized as placing, if it were permitted to stand, the final seal of doom upon Austria's ambitions in that direction. Then it was determined, by hook or by crook, to have that compact broken. There seemed to be only one way in which to do this. That was to pick on some pretext a quarrel with Serbia, to wage war against that country, and to compel it to recede from the ground which it had thus taken. The pretext which was thus created proved to be much more tragic than had been intended, but, of course, it was not for that reason abandoned. So it came to pass that Austria practically demanded as an alternative to war that Serbia should abdicate her independent sovereignty and make herself an administra- tive appanage to Austria. All other demands than that Serbia was willing to grant, for the sake of peace. Her knowledge of her own government's integrity and blame- lessness for the Sarajevo crime emboldened her to court all possible inquiry. But she could not and would not assent to having Austrian inquisitors usurp the places of Serbian judges and manufacture at Belgrade the spurious evidence which had been trumped up the year before at Agram. So she refused that one demand, and at that Austria, having anticipated such refusal, declared war. DESIGNS AGAINST SERBIA The purposes of Austria were threefold. One was to cripple Serbia, to humiliate her, to impose upon her a huge debt for war indemnity, and to exact from her in the peace treaty a practical acknowledgment of Austrian suzerainty. 37 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR The second was to compel Serbia to withdraw from Novi Bazar in favor of Austria, and thus let herself be separated from Montenegro by an Austrian wedge, and at the same time to compel her to renounce the projected union with Montenegro. The third was to oppress Montenegro, as a penalty for her aid to Serbia, by taking from her the little sea-coast which she possessed, so as to make the Austrian littoral of Dalmatia extend unbroken down to the quasi-Austrian puppet state of Albania, which was to be ruled by the German Prince of Wied. Thus the whole eastern coast of the Adriatic would have become Austrian. THE HAND OF GERMANY In all these designs Austria was backed by Germany. Indeed, it was Germany that imperatively insisted that Austria should inexorably pursue them, particularly the second which we have mentioned, the seizure of the sanjak of Novi Bazar. There was a terrible scene at Vienna when it became known that Count Aerenthal, at the same time that he seized Bosnia and Herzegovina, committed his government to the relinquishment to Turkey of that limited occupation of Novi Bazar which it had exercised since 1878. His idea was, of course, thus to mollify the Turkish Government and minimize its objections and resentment over the theft of the Serb provinces. But the "forward" party at Vienna, and even the venerable Emperor himself, regarded it as a great mistake, which must at some time be rectified. "You should have seized the Serb provinces," Aerenthal was told, "but at the same time you should have held fast to the sanjak. Remember, it is to him that hath that more shall be given!" This wrath was largely inspired from Berlin. For just 38 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR as Austria wanted to get down to Salonica, so did Germany desire a highway to Constantinople and the East. The German Emperor had visited Constantinople and Palestine. He had secured concessions from the Sultan for railroads in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. He planned a great German trade route, over German railroads, through Serbia and Thrace to Constantinople, through Asia Minor to Bagdad, and thence down Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf. Thus Germany would have direct outlets to the iEgean and Mediterranean Seas, and to the Indian Ocean. Germany would thus get into closer touch with her exten- sive East Indian colonies, and with the province which she had practically wrested from China, and would be in a position to attack the British Empire in India. THE NORTH SEA FRONTAGE There was a lust for sea frontage in still another direc- tion. Germany wanted to have a more commanding out- look upon that North Sea which she preferred to call the German Ocean. It was to increase her frontage upon it that Prussia seized Schleswig Holstein, and afterward similarly acquired Hanover. But that was not sufficient. The two Low Countries were in the way. Holland had for years been the object of ardent German wooing, with the hope of inducing her to become a member of the Empire; and that hope was never abandoned down to the outbreak of the war. But Belgium was still more coveted. That was partly because of that country's greater industrial and com- mercial importance, her port of Antwerp being the second or third largest in the world, and partly because of her geographical position, commanding the upper approaches to the British Channel and affording a vantage point from 39 ANTECEDENTS OF THE WORLD WAR which the Enghsh coast itself might be attacked. It was therefore with an eye cast in each direction, toward the East and toward the West, that Germany thrust her ally forward into a position which gave pretext and provoca- tion for war; a war which technically began in that south- eastern corner of Europe which had more than once or twice before been the battlefield of the world. The First German Army which Invaded France (1,200,000) would have Stretched from Paris into Russia (1200 Miles) if Marching in Single File 40 Chapter III THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD OF THE WORLD "The Lumber Room of Europe" -A Land of Many Different Peoples - Its Early Importance as the Battleground between Europe and Asia — Byzantmm, or Constantinople - Effects of Its Capture by the Turks - The Ancient Albanians — The Coming of the Bulgars — History of the Serbs and theu: Empire — 1 he Black Mountain - Greece - Roumania - The Ottoman Turks - American Influ- ences in the Balkans - The War of 1877 - The Congress of Berhn - Contempt of the Great Powers for the Rights of the Balkan States -The Turkish Revolu- tion- Austria-Hungary's Seizure of the Serb Provinces - The Balkan League -The Amazing War of the United Balkans Against Turkey — More Meddlmg by the Great Powers for Selfish Ends — Resentment in Serbia — A Step Toward the World War. THE AVERAGE person probably thinks of the Balkan peninsula in something like the words of Tennyson, as a land ''where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt." Mace- donia in particular, which is that part of the region over which the recent Balkan war most directly rose, has long been described by diplomatists and journahsts as 'Hhe lumber room of Europe." To change the figure, you may sometimes see at the bend of a swiftly flowing stream a Httle cove or bay, in which the water is almost motion- less, or in which it simply eddies round and round, and into which has been whirled by the passing current all manner of flotsam and jetsam, good and bad, the living and the dead. So it has been with this region of the southern Balkans. Into it have drifted men of every tribe and nation, inextricably mingled together in a slackwater, while the great stream of the world's progress has rushed by almost unheeded and unheeding. And yet that region ^ 41 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD ATTLEGUOUND OF SOUTHEASTERN EuROPE THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD is peopled with representatives of some of the greatest races that the world has ever known. There are the Arnauts of Albania, strange remnants of a prehistoric race of whose ancestry or origin the world knows nothing, save that before Greece and Rome were founded they were there, and now centuries after Greece and Rome have fallen they are still there — ^i-emote, unique, uncon- querable. There are Greeks, who once made the plains of Thrace and the narrow seas the battlegrounds on which to protect the dawning soul of Europe from the decadent body of Asia. There are the Bulgars, who came down from the dreary plains between the Volga and the Urals to plant the rose garden of Europe. There are the Serbs, who wandered south from Poland to found a great though short-hved empire. There are the Ottoman Turl^, who followed in the track of Darius and Xerxes and conquered where the Persians had failed, and who by their conquests changed all the subsequent history of the world. There are the Jews, most marvelous of peoples, who after more thousands of years than most nations know hundreds, are still distinct, immutable, with scarcely a change of character since the days of Solomon. There are Rou- manians, who still proudly call themselves Romans; Russians, Germans, Italians, and a contingent of almost every nation under the sun. THE CENTER OF THE OLD WORLD And these are gathered together in that land which of all is perhaps most entitled to be known as the center of the world. There is no other country round which the history of the human race has so much revolved and upon which human interest has so much centered. Look at a map of the world as it was known by the ancients, or was 43 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD imagined by them, and observe its place. It occupies the center of the stage, in full blazing spotlight of the world's attention. On the one hand, Europe; on the other, Asia. At the North, the vast regions of the Slavs, the Bulgars, the Tartars; at the South, the immemorial civilization of Egypt and Ethiopia. And this region, the point at which they all meet; the veritable Four Corners of the world. There is no more certain law of physics than that forces move along lines of least resistance. Forces moving North and South or East and West found the lines of least resistance leading them directly to the Bosporus and Dardanelles. Thousands of years ago it was recognized that the power which held those Straits controlled the destinies of the world. Later discoveries in geography, the opening of new routes of travel, and the invention of new methods and systems of transporta- tion have greatly modified these conditions; yet even to this day those lands and waters retain a large degree of their old-time importance. ON THE BOSPORUS We speak familiarly of Constantinople with less of rever- ence or of awe than of Babylon, Rome, Athens, or Jerusalem, yet it easily ranks with them as one of the five or six greatest cities of the ancient world. More than six centuries before the Christian era it was founded by the Megarians and Argives, under the lead of Byzas, from whom it took its ancient name, Byzantium. Tradition has it that the site was divinely selected and directed by the Delphic Oracle. In the Greco-Persian Wars it was destroyed by the armies of Darius, but after the immortal battle of Platea the Spartan hero Pausanias regained it and rebuilt it. Alcibiades, Lysander, Xenophon and Epaminondas 44 THE BALKAN 13 A T T L E F I E L D and many other great names in Grecian history are in- separably associated with the city upon the Bosporus; and after them the names of Roman emperors and con- querors. The place was attacked and largely destroyed by Alexander Severus, who thus unwittingly struck a deadly blow at his own Roman Empire. For with the fortifications of Bj^zantium destroyed, the fleets of the Goths were enabled to come down the Danube and other rivers into the Black Sea and thence through the Straits into the Mediterranean. It was not until the fourth century of our era that the city was rebuilt by Constantino the Great, endowed with his name and made the Eastern Capital of the Roman Empire, soon to become the capital of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. As such it played a great part in history for many centuries. You may still see there the stately ruins of the castle of Belisarius, the last of the great Roman conquerors. The tides of Turkish and Tartar invasion swept past the city into Europe, but could not overwhelm it. Even after the Ottoman Turks had conquered Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and most of Thrace, and had established their capital at Adrianople, the city of Constantine still seemed impregnable. When at last, after one of the most famous and heroic defenses in history, deserted and betrayed by those who should have been its friends and defenders, it finally fell in 1453, a new epoch came upon the world. For the fall of Constantinople threw into Turkish hands that one great gateway between Europe and the East, and that was what set the Portuguese and other navi- gators, explorers and adventurers to seeking new routes to the Indies, and finally sent Columbus across the Atlantic to seek the back door of Asia but instead to find the front door of America. The rise of the new world dates from 45 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD the triumph of the Crescent over the Cross on the banks of the Bosporus. THE ALBANIANS Now let us glance for a moment at some of the present dwellers in this historic land. In the extreme west, in the mountainous region along the Adriatic Coast, are the Albanians, or Arnauts, who have the distinction of being one of the only two or three peoples in Europe who so far as we know have never migrated but have been settled where they are today ever since the dawn of history. More than one thousand years before our era there occurred the Dorian invasion, and it was several centuries later before Greece attained the glory which made her unique among the nations of antiquity and still leaves her in memory the unrivaled wonder of the world. But long before the Dorian invasion this whole region was occupied by what the Greeks called the Pelasgian race. The origin or the meaning of that word Pelasgian is unknown. But that was what Homer and other ancient Greeks caUed the people who were there before them. They have all vanished save the Albanians, who today remain the unchanging representatives of the prehistoric Pelasgians. Centuries ago, when the Turks were striving for the con- quest of all Europe, the Albanians produced in John Castriot, Prince of Croia, best known as Scanderbeg, one of the supreme, immortal heroes of the world; the man who held his rock citadel for a lifetime against all the might of Othman, and who with a handful of moun- taineers rolled back in disaster and dismay the Turkish armies which were threatening all Europe, and sent the proudest and mightiest of the Ottoman Sultans back to Adrianople to die of chagrin and despair and a broken 46 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD heart. To this day the Albanians are still the same wild, daring, hospitable, indomitable mountaineers that they were of old, and though for centuries they have been nominally under Turkish rule, they have never fully acknowledged any other authority than their own. THE BULGARS The Bulgars are a Turanian people, kin to the Tartars, Huns and Finns, who had their former home at the earliest date of which we know of them on the vast plains and mountain slopes of Eastern Russia, between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, where their kingdom was known as Great Bolgary for several centuries. In the seventh century of our era they began their migration, by way of Astrakhan, the Crimea and the northern and western shores of the Black Sea, around to the Balkan region; a horde of wild and savage horsemen, practicing polygamy, and ruled despotically in patriarchal fashion by tribal chiefs. Their invasion was a forerunner of the later Tartar invasions of Genghis-Khan and Timur Leng, but while not marked with so extensive conquests or so great savagery as theirs, it was more successful in being more permanent. They marched to the very gates of Con- stantinople and compelled the Byzantine Emperor to pay them rich tribute and to grant them the extensive provinces which form the Bulgaria of today. These savage invaders absorbed the civilization of the lands which they con- quered and became a part of the Serbian empire which in the tenth and thirteenth centuries ranked among the great civilized powers of the world. It extended from the Black Sea to the Adriatic and from Thessaly to the Car- pathians, and its ruler bore the proud title of Emperor and Autocrat of All the Serbs. In 1389 the fatal battle 47 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD of Kossovo made the Turks masters of the Balkan penin- sula, in 1393 Tirnovo was captured and destroyed by the Turks, and thereafter until our own time the Bulgars were crushed beneath the Ottoman heel. By the beginning of the nineteenth century their existence and their name were almost forgotten by the world. THE SERBS The Serbs are a Slavonic people, kin to the Croats, and first appear in history in the writings of Pliny, who described them as an agricultural people settled in Poland and especially in what is now known as Galicia. In the sixth century of our era they moved down the Danube and settled in what is now the kingdom of Serbia and the adjoining provinces, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, now claimed by Austria-Hungary, and the northern part of Macedonia and Albania. It was not until the twelfth century that their first ruler, Stephen Nemanya, organized them into an independent kingdom. Education, literature and the arts were greatly promoted, and Serbia became one of the most enlightened lands of Eastern Europe. Under Stephen Dushan, in the fourteenth century, the Serbian Empire attained the zenith of its greatness and glory. It comprised the whole Balkan peninsula, from Greece northward to Poland, and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, excepting Constantinople itself and a small territory adjacent. In laws and civilization it was scarcely inferior to the most advanced nations of Western Europe. Near the end of that century the last great Serbian ruler, the Tsar Lazarus Hrebelianovich, sought to unite Greece and Constantinople itself with his empire to form an irresistible barrier against the advance of the Turks into Europe. But through the indifference of some and the 48 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD treason of others his plans failed and he was defeated in the great battle of Kossovo. On that fatal field both the Serbian Tsar Lazarus and the Turkish Sultan Amurath I were slain, and the Ottoman power became supreme. While, however, Bulgaria and other parts of the Serbian Empire fell under complete Turkish control, Serbia proper long maintained a semi-independent status. In the latter part of the fifteenth century, Serbia had become weakened by repeated Turkish assaults, no other nation in Europe would or could raise a hand to help her, and so at last she fell beneath the Ottoman yoke. But as she was the last of all the Christian states to be vanquished, she was in course of time also the first to strike a successful blow for the restoration of her freedom. MONTENEGRO After the fatal battle of Kossovo a number of the most valiant and resolute of the Serbian nobles and their retainers fled to the mountain fastnesses at the north of Albania and established themselves as an independent state. There they held their ground with unrivaled heroism against all the power of the Ottoman Empire, unconquerable as the rocky peaks amid which they made their home. In all the time during which the Turks were masters over the rest of the Balkan region, Montenegro alone retained its independence, and never until the present, in all the more than five centuries since, was the brave little mountain state subdued. It held its own through being a nation of warriors. Here we have a law forbidding men to carry deadly weapons. But in Montenegro they had a law which required every man to carry at least one loaded pistol in his belt at all times; at work and at pla}^ in the family circle and in worship at church; and woe to 4 49 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD the luckless man who was found without such equipment. The greatest of the early IVIontenegrin rulers was Ivan the Black, and there is to this day a legend among the people that he is not dead but merely sleeping in a mountain cavern, awaiting the call for the final expulsion of the Turks from Europe, when he will awaken again to lead his people. GREECE Of Greece it should scarcely be necessary to speak, so familiar is its history to the world. Twenty-four cen- turies ago it was the bulwark of Europe against Asiatic invasion. It rose to a height of intellectual and artistic splendor which the world for more than twenty centuries since has despaired of rivaling. It fell under alien sub- jection through its own intestine feuds. Seven years after the fall of Constantinople it was conquered by the Turks, and though Venice two centuries later wrested half of it from the Asiatic conquerors, in 1715 the whole of it fell back under the Ottoman yoke and there remained until, more than a century later, occurred the revolution adorned by the chivalric heroism of Byron, which in 1829 was finally successful. Since that time Greece has been an independent kingdom among the nations of the world. ROUMANIA One other kingdom demands at least passing notice. This is Roumania, the largest of them all, lying between Russia on the north, Bulgaria on the south, the Black Sea on the east and Hungary on the west. We first hear of that region as occupied by the Dacians, a brave and warlike tribe who for many years held their own against first the Greeks and then the Romans. The Emperor 50 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD Trajan at last subdued them and the region was then largely colonized by Romans. After the fall of Rome the province became a thoroughfare through which passed many hordes of invaders, coming from Russia and Asia into Southern Europe. The Goths, the Huns under Attila, the Lombards under Alboin, the Bulgars, the Magyars and the Wallachs successively traversed that region, leaving their imprint upon it, and the Wallachs particularly leaving many permanent settlers. In time the region became divided into the two provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, long known as the Danubian provinces and ruled by independent chiefs. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they were both so far conquered by the Turks as to be compelled to pay tribute to the Sultan, though they always retained a considerable measure of self-government. Under Peter the Great the Russians attempted the conquest of them, and for many years practically controlled the provinces. But in 1859 the two were united under a single prince whose independence of both Turkey and Russia was presently recognized, and in 1881 Roumania was erected into a kingdom, ranking in importance next to the great powers of Europe. THE OTTOMAN TURKS But we must not play Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out; nor review the history of the Balkans without recalUng that of the Ottoman Turks. This formidable tribe was first heard of at Khorassan, on the Afghan border of Persia. Driven westward by the Mongols it, early in the thirteenth century, entered Armenia and Asia Minor and gave much military assistance in a time of need to the Seljuk of Iconium, helping him to win the great battle of Angora against the Mongols. For this service the 51 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD Sultan gave to the tribe extensive lands at Sugut, in the ancient province of Phrygia, in Asia Minor. At that place was bom the great leader, Osman, or Othman, from whom the tribe thereafter took its name of Osmanli or Ottoman Turks. He and his son conquered all that part of Asia Minor to the shores of the Dardanelles and Bosporus. There for years the tribe rested, developing one of the most marvelous and masterful civil and military systems in the world, and then, in the middle of the four- teenth century, they resumed their westward movement. Amurath I crossed the Dardanelles and soon conquered Adrianople, Philippopolis, most of Thrace, Bulgaria and Serbia and practically the whole Balkan country save Constantinople itself and the territory immediately adja- cent. Constantinople itself would probably have been taken had not the Mongols under Timur Leng swept into Asia Minor and crushed the Ottoman army at Angora, on the very field where the Mongols had been defeated many years before. For a time the Ottoman Empire seemed destroyed, but its tremendous vitahty survived and in a few years it had regained all that it had lost. Under Mohammed I the capital was transferred from Broussa, in Asia Minor, to Adrianople, in Thrace, and that is the reason why the Turks today regard Adrianople with peculiar veneration and were so reluctant to sur- render it to the victorious allies of the Balkans. In time the Ottoman Empire extended from Persia at the east to Italy at the west, and from Poland at the north to Ethiopia at the south. Hungary for a century and a half was an Ottoman province, and the Austrian capital, Vienna, was twice attacked by Turkish besiegers and was saved from capture only by payment of a ransom. 52 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD THE DAWN OF BALKAN FREEDOM At the middle of the sixteenth century the Turkish power reached its zenith, and thereafter it waned. In Boundary of Turkish Empire in 1815. Boundaries of independent or semi- independent states betneen ISISi 1885. — — • — Boundary of Bulgaria proposed bi/ the Treaty of San Stefano, 187i I Highlands 9ver 3000 feet. The dates are those of the liberation of the various districts from Turkish rule. The Balkan States, 1815-1885 the eighteenth century it was repeatedly attacked and despoiled by the rising power of Russia, at times aided by Austria, and in the nineteenth century its downward course was swift and sure. Greece won her independence. Serbia led the way in the Balkans toward the same end, 53 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD and in 1866 expelled the last Turkish garrison. In that same year Roumania became independent, and then in 1874 came the beginning of the end. The disordered condition of Turkish finances led to fiscal intervention by the powers. An insurrection in the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina was suppressed with difficulty, and in 1875 a rebellion in Bulgaria was crushed with such savagery that when two Americans, J. A. MacGahan and Eugene Schuyler, exposed the atrocities, the civilized world stood appalled. Nor was the work of these two devoted men the only service America rendered to the Balkan peoples. Years before there had been founded at Constantinople by a New York philanthropist the great institution known by the name of its creator as Robert CoUege. There many young men of Bulgaria were educated not only in the arts and sciences but also in the principles of free government and the rights of men. Many Bulgarians, too, came to America and were educated in our own schools and colleges. And thus from our own land the fight of liberty and the spirit of independence were reflected into the dark places of the oppressed Balkan States. It was because of that American impulse that Bulgaria rebeUed, and it was by the word of American witnesses that the unexampled horrors of Turkish repres- sion were made known to the world. Following those appalling tragedies Serbia and Montenegro declared war against Turkey, but were quickly defeated. Then in the spring of 1877 Russia and Roumania declared war, ostensibly for the redemption of the Bulgarians and other Christian peoples from Turkish tyranny. The Roumanian Prince was made commander-in-chief of the aUied forces, and though Russia contributed the major part of the army the most critical engagement in the war was won 54 ^ c a> 7 3 ^ m p" H K ^ H W O O y H ^. d 3 » P '^ S K 3 <^ >^ tr >' cc w < .S: c 'A y, N <•, ^, f> c e-j ;^ a H:2 •^ „ 3 >; fe^ 1 .-C •TS -' Ph^J b a -I- -3 33 0. c -3 a i-sh X ^S ffi g o •^ '' S :s d 'C ^ kj < OJ 31 ^ '^^.5 •? m- n. > H THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD by the valor of the Roumanian troops. Adrianople was captured in January, 1878, and soon afterward Russia attempted to dictate terms to Turkey under which she would have taken for herself as spoils of war the larger part of the Ottoman Empire. Against this other great powers protested, and a European congress was held at Berlin in 1878 to arrange the final terms of peace and the readjustment of the political map of Europe. BLUNDERS OF THE POWERS Two stupendous errors were committed by the powers at that time. One was, that they largely ignored the natural rights of the Balkan peoples and looked chiefly to their own selfish aggrandizement. Serbia and Monte- negro did receive slight advantages, but the two important provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were almost purely Serbian, and which on every principle of right and justice belonged to that country, were placed under Austrian protection and thus the way was opened for Austria-Hungary years later to seize them and arbitrarily annex them to her own domain. Roumania, which had really won the war against Turkey, instead of being rewarded was actually despoiled by having the rich province of Bessarabia taken from her and given to Russia, her only compensation being a gift of the comparatively worth- less region known as the Dobrudscha. Bulgaria was, it is true, erected into an autonomous state, under Turkish suzerainty, but with no thought of its ever becoming or long remaining really independent. Its crown was offered to a gaUant German prince, Alexander of Battenberg, and when he asked the advice of Bismarck as to whether he should accept it or not, the Iron Chancellor, anticipating the speedy collapse of the new state, cynically replied, 55 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD ''Oh, yes, take it; it will be a pleasant souvenir!" The fact was, Russia had waged the war against Turkey not so much for the liberation of the Balkan peoples as for her own aggrandizement, and she now intended presently to absorb Bulgaria and so to push on to her long coveted goal at Constantinople, upon which her eye had been fixed for a thousand years. On the other hand, Austria- Hungary was similarly intent upon absorbing Serbia and much of Macedonia, and so pushing down to Salonica, her goal on the ^Egean Sea. Serbia and Bulgaria, with their former history of greatness, were ignored, or were used only as pawns in the game. And for many years thereafter, indeed down to half a dozen years ago, Russian and Austro-Hungarian diplomacy, intrigues, commercial influence and military threats were exercised to those same ends, to disturb the governments of Bulgaria and Serbia, to make their success as independent states impos- sible, and to compel them to fall into the hands of the two great powers. MACEDONIA The other capital error, which grew out of this first one, was in making no provision or in taking no steps for the enforcement of the European prescriptions of better government for Macedonia. The powers at the congress of Berlin demanded great reforms in that government and Turkey promised to grant them. But as a matter of fact immediately after the adjournment of the congress Turkish government in Macedonia and Albania became every whit as bad as it had been before, and atrocities similar to those which in Bulgaria had staggered humanity were of frequent occurrence. This disastrous policy had various results. It maintained and intensified the age- 56 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD long hostility of the Serbs, Bulgars and Greeks against Turkey. It kept Albania in a state of chronic disaffection and revolt. It made of Macedonia a land of benighted lawlessness. It provoked occasional remonstrances from the powers and some acts of intervention, which were futile and ineffectual. It also for many years gave rise to bitter jealousies and animosities among the three states of Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece, each of them seeking to advance its own interests in Macedonia and each claiming to be the rightful owner of that region. DEMORALIZED STATES Both these causes, moreover, had a demoralizing effect upon the Balkan States themselves. In Serbia the intrigues of Austria corrupted the court and filled its career with repeated scandals, until at last the people could endure that state of affairs no longer. A mihtary conspiracy was formed, which resulted in one of the most shocking tragedies in modern history, when the palace was forcibly entered and the king and queen were butchered in cold blood and the dynasty exterminated. Then a prince of a former dynasty was called to the throne, and is now the king of Serbia. In Bulgaria there was a succession of outrages and tragedies similarly brought about by the malevolent intrigues of Russia. Prince Alexander was one night seized in his palace by Russian kidnappers and forcibly carried out of the country and compelled under threats of death to abdicate his throne. On regaining his liberty he returned and for a time resumed his wise and patriotic rule, but again was compelled to abdicate as an alternative to having his country crushed by the overwhelming force of Russia. In his place Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was elected prince. He was a 57 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD grandson of Louis Philippe of France and related to four or five royal families, but at the time of his election he was a half-pay lieutenant in the Austrian army. A master of intrigue, of boundless ambition, and of more than ordinary ability in statecraft, he set himself to the task of restoring the ancient greatness of Bulgaria and at the same time of exalting himself among the great rulers of Europe. Stephen Stambuloff, the greatest statesman of modern Bulgaria and the real creator of that country's independence, was known not unfittingly as the Bismarck of the Balkans and for a time as Prime Minister of Bulgaria he overshadowed the young prince. In Germany, the young Emperor William II got rid of Bismarck by forcing his resignation from the chancellorship. In Bulgaria, Stambuloff was disposed of through brutal assassination, and thereafter Prince Ferdinand was the unchallenged head of the state. TURKISH REVOLUTION At last the evils of Turkish misgovernment, not merely in Macedonia and Albania but in Thrace and Constanti- nople itself, accumulated until they could no longer be endured, and a formidable organization known as the Young Turks arose whose aim was revolution. For a time the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, strove to suppress it and its members worked chiefly in exile in other lands; but at last finding it too strong, he affected to yield to its demands. In 1908 the world was astonished and gratified by the announcement that a constitution had been pro- claimed in Turkey and that under it a popular liberal government was being organized. It seemed for a time as though the tyrant who for a generation had been one of the worst criminals that ever defiled even the Turkish 58 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD throne had transformed himself into a benevolent servant of the people. Religious freedom and equality were proclaimed, the people were no longer subjects but citi- zens, freedom of speech and of the press were guaranteed, universal suffrage and a representative legislature were established, and Turkey took its place for the first time among the free and enlightened nations of the earth. It was fondly thought that we should see the inspiring spectacle of a supposedly dying nation rising into newness of life. But the promise was not to be so easily fulfilled. The Sultan soon showed his lack of sympathy with the new era which he himself had inaugurated, and he was forcibly deposed and imprisoned and his kinsman, Mohammed V, who had spent many years in imprison- ment, was placed upon the throne. After this, factional strife distracted the empire, old animosities between Moslem and Christian arose, old abuses were continued, and the experiment of popular government seemed to be in danger of faihng. THE RAPE OF THE PROVINCES Meantime the great powers, or some of them, instead of encouraging the regeneration of Turkey, looked on with little sympathy and in some cases with actual hostility. One of them, Austria-Hungary, assumed an attitude of aggressive antagonism. It was evidently feared at Vienna and Budapest that Turkey might fully rehabilitate her- self and become a great and enlightened power, and so might be entitled to reclaim the valuable provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina which Austria-Hungary had been holding and governing in trust for her, and might so reform the government of Macedonia as to give no pretext for alien seizure of those provinces. Accordingly, with a 59 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD sordid determination to make sure of those provinces which she had in charge, and with a malevolent determi- nation to discourage and discredit the new order of things in Turkey as much as possible and to cause the experiment of liberal government to fail, Austria-Hungary arbitrarily seized Bosnia and Herzegovina and annexed them to her own conglomerate domain. It was a flagrant violation of the Berlin Treaty of 1878 and a cynical application of the piratical old rule of the age of force, ^'that they shall take who have the power, and they shall keep who can." Turkey protested vigorously against the outrage, and so did Serbia, to which the reversion of the provinces logically belonged, but all in vain. The other powers passively assented to or condoned the wholesale theft, and Turkey and Serbia were powerless before the huge army with which Austria-Hungary backed up her morally indefensible act. There was then every prospect that Austria-Hungary would presently continue her career of aggression and spoliation, by pushing down the Vardar Valley through Macedonia and seizing the city and port of Salonica, which she had long coveted, and which indeed all Europe had regarded as destined to fall into her hands. THE BALKAN LEAGUE But the rape of the two provinces had another result, quite unexpected and undesired by the perpetrator of that crime. It caused Serbia and her neighbors to open their eyes to the manner in which they were being used as pawns and playthings, and to realize the actual designs of the great powers toward them. They took to them- selves the warning of Byron to the Greeks, ''Trust not for freedom to the Franks," and became persuaded that ''who would be free, themselves must strike the blow." 60 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD The Prince of Bulgaria took the initiative. Throwing off the last shadowy trace of Turkish suzerainty and of the tutelage of the great powers, he proclaimed himself no longer Prince, but King, Emperor and Tsar. In this assumption of dignity the powers acquiesced, partly because they could not easily prevent it and partly because they fondly imagined that it would amount to nothing more than a change of name. But it did amount to a great deal more. The government of Bulgaria and Serbia, which because of the rival intrigues and influences of Russia and Austria had long been unfriendly and at one time had been openly at war, realized that the interests of both would be promoted by the establishment of a friendly understanding. So negotiations to that end were quietly begun, and soon were extended to include also Montenegro and Greece. Meanwhile all these four powers began, in profound secrecy but with unmatched energy and devotion, to stock their arsenals, to recruitj and discipline their armies, and to prepare for a war which' would be a war to the knife and the knife to the hilt. Never, probably, in the history of the world was so important and extensive a movement conducted with so profound a degree of secrecy and so complete a measure, of success. Turkey and all the powers of Europe knew, nothing and suspected nothing of what was going on, either in diplomacy or in the armies of the Balkan States. If any symptoms of the campaign were observed they were contemptuously disregarded because of the habit which all Europe had formed of refusing to take seriously any- thing which the Balkan States might do. But the rulers and the peoples of the Balkan States were tremendously in earnest. In the early fall of 1911 the Prime Ministers of Serbia and Bulgaria met in a railroad car on the frontier 61 THE BALKAN*' BATTLEFIELD between the two countries. There the outline of a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, was formed and adopted. It was agreed that as Bulgaria was the largest of the four states, the headquarters of the alliance should be at her capital, Sophia, and in that city on the last day of February, 1912, a formal treaty between the two powers was signed. At the middle of May following a similar treaty was made with Greece and with Montenegro, so that by the beginning of summer aU four states were firmly united in a Balkan League, which was to last for twenty-five years and the object of which was the waging of war upon Turkey and the partitioning among the allies of a large part of the Turkish domains. It was on August 13, 1912, that King Ferdinand of Bulgaria presided over a council of the four allies, at which it was formally resolved that if Turkey did not promptly grant and put into effec- tive execution the reforms in Macedonia and elsewhere to which she was bound by the Berhn Treaty of 1878, then the four Balkan States should unitedly wage war upon her. PLANS OF CONQUEST That resolution was formed on August 13, 1912, and ii was agreed that, in order to interfere as little as possible with the occupations of the people, the war should be started as soon as the farmers had gathered in their autumn harvests, which at that time were already beginning to ripen in the fields. And down to this time not another government in Europe outside of these four ha^ the slightest inkling of what was going on and of what was about to occur. A few weeks later Bulgaria made peremptory demands upon Turkey for the granting of reforms in Macedonia, which were as usual, and as was expected, 62 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD ignored. Then the mihtary preparations and purposes of the allied states began to be hinted at. The great powers regarded them with mingled amusement, impatience and contempt. The armies and governments of the Balkan States had lately been travestied upon the stage as ^'choco- late soldiers" and ''puppet kingdoms" and it was uni- versally assumed that if they were so foolhardy and presumptuous as to begin war they would be speedily overwhelmed by the vast and invincible legions of the Turks. The Turks were a warrior race, who had no superiors in the world as first-class fighting men, and for the petty Balkan States to attack them would be much like committing suicide; of which fact the allies were solemnly warned by the powers. But little the powers knew or dreamed of what had been going on behind the veil of secrecy which the four allies had so well maintained. In October came the declaration of war, and then there was seen the spectacle of four nations simultaneously springing forth in the panoply of war, like the fabled Minerva from the brow of Jove. In a twinkling, the streets of Athens, as of Belgrade and feophia, were thronged with a populace frenzied with zeal to join the colors and to march to the conquest of the hated Turkish Empire. The cattle pastures of Serbia, the flower gardens of Bulgaria from which the world gets its supphes of attar of roses, the rocky heights of Montenegro, and the hills and valleys and fertile plains of classic Greece, were deserted by every able-bodied man, and even by many women who put on male attire and marched in the ranks. The ruined temples of Greece, which in their prime had seen the triumphs of Platea and Salamis and Marathon commemorated, and had echoed to the footsteps of Pericles and Xenophon and 63 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD Epaminondas, now saw stern musterings of men who had inherited the traditions of Thermopylae. And so while the great powers of Europe awaked from their slumber and gaped and gazed and wondered, there burst through the encircling mountain from four sides at once the storm of pent-up wrath of centuries upon the hated Turk. A SHORT, SWIFT WAR Tt was on October 8th that Montenegro declared war on Turkey, but her early operations were not important. It was not until October 17th that war began between Bulgaria and Serbia on the one hand and Turkey on the other, and the next day Greece also began to fight. Date the beginning of the war, then, at October 17th. In just eight days, on October 25th, the Bulgarians had swept half way across Thrace and had captured the important city of Kirk Kilisse, between Adrianople and Constanti- nople; capturing it after a battle and storm which made its streets a shambles and a wilderness of ruin. The next day a Serbian army, pressing far into the heart of Mace- donia, captured the city of Uskub. By October 30th, scarcely a fortnight after the declaration of war, the Bulgarians had fought at Lule Burgas a four days' battle, extending over a line of more than thirty miles, had crumpled up and put to rout the main Turkish army of 150,000 men, had cut Adrianople off from Constantinople, and were closely besieging the ancient capital of the Sultans. On November 3d, only seventeen days after the declara- tion of war, the Turkish Government in its despair begged the great powers to intervene to save it from the victorious alhes. But the powers, which a few weeks before had scorned those allies and had patronizingly warned them not to get into trouble by attacking the superior might 64 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD of Turkey, now stood in open-mouthed amazement and stupefaction, and ventured not to raise a hand or speak a word to stay the triumphant tide of war. Five days later the Greeks captured the great Macedonian city and seaport of Salonica, anciently known as Thessalonica to the church in which Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians was addressed. On November 13th, less than a month from the beginning of the war, Turkey asked the allies for a cessation of hostilities to discuss terms of peace, but the conditions which she suggested were not acceptable and the campaign went on. On November 18th the completion of a month of war was celebrated by the Serbians in the capture of Monastir, the most important inland city of Macedonia, while the Bulgarian army drove the Turks within the lines of Tchataldja, in the very suburbs of Constantinople itself. Ten days later, when the Serbians triumphantly marched to the shore of the Adriatic at Durazzo, gaining the outlet to the sea which their country had long desired and needed, the Albanians raised a flag of their own, proclaimed their national independence, and called upon Austria-Hungary and Italy to recognize and protect them. Finally, on December 3d, an armistice was signed between Turkey and the allies at the village of Kadin Keni, and on December 16th, a day less than two months after the beginning of the war, the envoys of the five powers met in London to negotiate a treaty of peace. In two months' time those ''puppet states," as they were contemptuously called, those "chocolate soldiers" who had been the favorite butts of ridicule and travesty in works of fiction and on the stage, had achieved a consummation which no great power would have under- taken. They had overthrown and practically annihilated the Turkish Empire in Europe, leaving it nothing of all 6 fi5 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD its great domain but three or four cities and their environs, and these closely besieged. They had waged war in a singularly up-to-date method. Ferdinand, King or Tsar of Bulgaria, was the first sovereign who ever accompanied his armies to war in an automobile, but in such a vehicle he did accompany his army throughout its campaign. A fleet of aeroplanes was also employed by the allies. Lessons in sanitation were learned from the Japanese in their marvelous war with Russia. And in brief, the supposedly rude and uncouth farmers and mountaineers exhibited a degree of efficiency in civilized warfare such as had not been surpassed by any European nation. MORE MEDDLING Now, at the close of the war, the great powers played an ignoble part; as they had also done at its beginning. Let us consider their moral responsibiHties and duties. It was because of their gross and incorrigible neglect to enforce their own decrees and to fulfill their own plain duty, that the war was provoked. That is the first indict- ment against them. The war was their fault. The second indictment is that when the war became imminent they made no serious efforts to avert it. They were morally bound by the treaty of The Hague to use all practicable efforts to preserve the peace, but they wholly neglected to do so and let the war come on without a single indict- ment against them. Then, when the war was ended, they repeated one of the capital blunders which they had made in 1878, by seeking to seize for themselves the prizes of others' victories. They objected especially to letting Serbia reap the rewards of her own labors and insisted that much of the territory which that gallant little power had won by conquest should be taken from her and put 66 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD under Austrian protection. It was the same old policy of using the Balkan States as tools to serve the selfish ends of the great powers. Of course Serbia and her aUies could scarcely hope to maintain their rights against Austria- Hungary and Germany and Italy united, and so they were forced reluctantly to yield and to be despoiled of much of the just fruits of their campaign. It was the old story of seeking to reap where other men had sown; and of ordering the affairs of the Balkans not in the interest of the Balkan peoples but for the sordid gain of outside powers. Nevertheless, the great powers in self-interest could scarcely avoid doing some good work. When Turkey demurred to the proposals of the allies and threatened to break off negotiations and resume the war, the powers, fearful lest the conflict might extend to their own circle, exerted moral pressure upon the Porte with the result that at last, but most reluctantly, on January 22d, it yielded to the allies and consented even to the surrender of Adrianople and of the remaining islands of the ^Egean Sea. That date may be regarded, therefore, as marking the assurance of peace, though it meant disaster to the Turkish Government, which the very next day was driven from office by an infuriated mob organized and led by the Young Turk Party. From the beginning of the war to the establishment of an armistice was only forty-seven days. From the signing of the armistice to the practical agreement on peace was just fifty days. In these ninety- seven days was undone the work of centuries. Four hundred and sixty years before the Turks had won all the Balkan peninsula save only Constantinople and its imme- diate suburbs. Now the conditions were exactly reversed, and Constantinople and its suburbs were all that was left to the once mighty and conquering tribe of Othman. 67 THE BALKAN BATTLEFIELD The evil meddling of the great powers, however, led to a breaking up of the Balkan League and to war among its members who had lately been loyal allies; particularly between Bulgaria and Serbia; while Austria's interference with Serbia, as already related, provided provocation to the still greater war which speedily followed. \RUSSU Provisions of the Treaty of Bucharest, 1913 68 Chapter IV STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS Twenty Centuries of German Ambition — Wars with Rome — The Germanic Invasion of Gaul — Charlemagne's Conquest and Empire — The First German Emperor Nearly a Thousand Years Ago — The Teutonic Order — The Rise of Prussia — The Napoleonic Wars — Prussian Militarism — The Creation of the Present German Empire — The Hohenzollern Dynasty — A Fortunate Marriage — The Electors — Frederick the Great — William I and William II — Twenty Sovereigns — The Polyglot Reahn of Austria-Hungary — The German Hapsburgs and Their Slavic Subjects — Fortunes and Misfortunes of the House of Austria. THE STORY of the Central Powers, the two Teutonic empires, dates back two thousand years and more. It was in the year 113 B. C. that Teutonic tribes first clashed with imperial Rome. They met in battle at Noreia, in lUyria, now the southern part of the Austrian Empire, and the Teutons and their Cymric aUies were victorious over the Roman legions. It is interesting to recall the alliance of the Teutons and Cymri, because the latter were of the same stock as the ancient Britons. Eleven years later Marius avenged this defeat of the Roman arms by vanquishing the Teutons, after which there was peace for many years. Julius Caesar came into comparatively slight contact with the Teutonic or German tribes, with whom, however, he reported that the Belgians, who were the bravest of all the Gauls, were in almost incessant conflict. Drusus Germanicus, in 12 B. C, was the first to engage in a general war between the Latin and Teutonic worlds. He invaded Germany in force and conquered the tribes between the Elbe and the Rhine, built a fort near the 69 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS present site of Liege, and was the first Roman to reach the shore of the North Sea, or German Ocean. His brilliant conquests, however, were not lasting, and they were followed a few years later by a campaign of disaster. THE LOST LEGIONS OF VARUS It was in 9 A. D. that the next great Roman expedition invaded Germany, under the lead of Varus. It pene- trated as far as the Teutoberger Wald, the German Moun- tain Forest, near Osnabrueck, where it was met bj" a German army under Hermann, whom the Romans called Arminius. The result was that the three legions of Varus, the very flower of the Roman army, were annihilated; and Caesar Augustus groveled in pain upon the floor of his Roman pal- ace, cr}4ng in anguish, ''Varus ! Give me back my legions !" It was too late. The legions were gone, and what was stiU more ominous, the German fighting spirit was aroused. A little more than two centuries later, in 238, various Frankish tribes invaded Gaul, scorning the waning power of the empire whose borders the Goths and Vandals were ravaging, and in 450 the Germanic tribes began their wholesale irruption into Gaul. INIore than three centuries later Charlemagne subdued the Saxons and other German peoples, and on Christmas day in the year 800 was cro\\Tied by the Pope as Emperor of the West, that is, of Germany and Gaul. That potent monarch then, in 802, designed the two-headed eagle as his emblem, in token of his sovereignty over the dual empire of Rome and of Germany. That was the origin of the two-headed eagle which is now displayed in the imperial escutcheon of Austria, whose sovereigns were the last titular successors of Charlemagne; while the German coat -of -arms bears the single-headed black eagle of Prussia. 70 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS THE FRANCO-GERMAN FEUD We may date the feud between Germany and France away back to the year 840. At that time Louis I, sur- named the Debonnair, separated those two countries and made them antagonistic to each other. France became independent, while for some years Germany remained subject to Rome. But in 896 the Germans under Arnulph marched upon Rome and captured that city, and then, on November 8, 911, declared their independence, with Conrad I of Franconia as their king A few days later the dukes and counts of the various states declared their local sovereignty, and their right to choose their own national sovereign, and thus constituted themselves Electors. So at the death of Conrad they selected Henry the Fowler as his successor, and thereafter for many centuries the kingly or imperial dignity remained elective. OTTO THE FIRST EMPEROR Otto I, in 962, was the first such Emperor to be formally recognized and crowned by the Pope at Rome. After him came a series of conquering emperors, who added Bohemia, Lorraine and other lands to the empire. Under Henry IV, surnamed Hildebrand, there came in 1075 a memorable conflict with Pope Gregory VII. This first led to the crushing defeat of Henry, who, in 1077, went to Canossa and did penance by standing in the snow, bareheaded, under the Pope's window, until that prelate was willing to receive him as a suppliant for mercy. But in 1084 Henry avenged himself by capturing the papal city and sending Gregory to die in exile the next year at Salerno. Then came on the Guelph and Ghibelline feuds, the wars which ravaged Italy, the establishment of the 71 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS famous Teutonic Order of Knighthood in 1190, and the election of Rudolph, the first Hapsburg Emperor, in 1273. Finally, in 1439, the Pragmatic Sanction settled the imperial dignity in perpetuity upon the Hapsburgs, who held it until August 11, 1804, when Francis II formally resigned it, and the Holy Roman Empire — which, as Lord Bryce once wrote, was neither holy nor Roman, nor yet an empire — came to an end, THE BEGINNING OF PRUSSIA Meanwhile, Prussia arose, her rising in a subtle but potent manner stimulated by the Hapsburg monopoly of the imperial crown. It was in 1415 that Prussia had its origin. At that time a petty nobleman, Frederick IV of Nuremberg, founder of the HohenzoUern family, became Margrave of Brandenburg. He obtained that dignity by purchase, for so much cash, from the then Emperor, Sigismund of Bohemia, and that Mark of Brandenburg became the nucleus of what was to become the kingdom of Prussia. Presently the conquest of Porussia, as East Prussia was known, because of its proximity to Russia, was undertaken by the Teutonic Knights, while Casimir of Poland assisted the Porussians in their resistance. Albert of Brandenburg, the grand master of the Teutonic Knights, in 1575 so far succeeded in the conquest as to get himself recognized as Duke of Porussia, or East Prussia, though he was compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of Poland. That was another striking incident, the begin- ning of Prussia as a fief of Poland! So it remained for more than a century and a quarter, until in 1657 Poland recognized the complete independence of Prussia, the latter state then being under the able reign of Frederick William, the Great Elector. 72 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS PRUSSIA A KINGDOM After that events proceeded more swiftly. On January 18, 1701, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, crowned and proclaimed himself King of Prussia, and instituted the now famous Order of the Black Eagle. He was Frederick I of Prussia, and he considerably added to the extent of his domain by purchase and by seizure. Then came Frederick II the Great, whose reign marked an epoch in European history, and who at his death in 1786 left Prussia securely established among the great powers of the continent. It was Frederick the Great who not only threw off the last traces of Polish suzerainty over Prussia but also conceived and incited the first Partition of Poland. This he did in order to increase the area of his kingdom, in order to connect and consolidate East Prussia with Brandenburg instead of having them separated by Polish provinces, and in order to secure for himself the important Baltic seaport of Dantzig and the adjacent littoral. Twenty years after his death the kingdom was almost extinguished by Napoleon, in and after the battles of Jena and Auerstadt. But it was there that Von Stein's Tugendbund was organized, and that Scharnhorst secretly transformed the people into a nation of soldiers. On March 17, 1813, the Prussian nation rose, to lead all Germany in a war of liberation, which culminated at Waterloo. PRUSSIAN RIVALRY WITH AUSTRIA From Waterloo down to the revolutionary era of 1848 Prussia pursued a quiet and uneventful career. In 1848, however, a new Constitution was promulgated, and the next year a National Assembly of the German States elected the King of Prussia '^ hereditary Emperor of the 73 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS Germans." He declined the honor, but six months later it was again proposed for him by Bavaria; in the face of vigorous protests from Austria, not only against the imperial scheme, but even against any alliance between Europe After the Congress of Vienna Prussia and any other German state. The result was that in the course of a few years most of the German states were allied with Austria, and Prussia was left almost alone. SEEKING CONTINENTAL DOMINATION With the accession of WilHam I, in 1861, the Bismarckian era began. Autocratic absolutism suspended the Con- stitution in order to force the nation into extreme mili- tarism. At that early date plans were made for the domi- nation of the continent. First, in 1864, Denmark was 74 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS despoiled of two provinces, and Austria was discredited. In 1866 the German states were peremptorily bidden to choose between Prussia and Austria; a federal Diet was held at Frankfort, which, under Austrian influence, voted for the demobilization of the Prussian army. Prussia replied by declaring the Germanic Confederation to be dissolved, and then came the war. Austria was crushed, a Diet at Augsburg recognized the dissolution of the Ger- manic Confederation, Prussia annexed Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort and fully incorporated the Danish provinces, and a North German confederation was formed under Prussian hegemony, with Austria left out in the cold as Prussia had been before. The sequel — foreseen and planned for at the beginning — was the war of 1870, by which France was supposed to be forever crushed to the rank of a third-class power, and the new German Empire was formed, with Prussia at the head, including all of Germany but Austria. Since then, the Triple Alliance, the secret treaty with Russia, German colonial expansion, and now a war with nearly all the rest of Europe, which was meant to make the remainder of the European continent a mere appanage to the German Empire, but which may result in the ending of that empire. THE STORY OF THE HOHENZOLLERNS For *' Germany" now read '^ Prussia," and for ''Prussia" read ''The HohenzoUerns." It will be fitting to review the career of that extraordinary family. Albert Achilles stoutly maintained that he could trace the descent of the HohenzoUerns directly from one of the companions of the Pious ^neas in his flight from burning Troy, his episode with Queen Dido at Carthage, and his founding of the Latin State from which sprang Rome. 75 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS It does not appear, however, that he proved his claim to such ancestry; though neither did any one ever disprove it. The learned Herr Doctor Cernutius, the loyal historian of the house of HohenzoUern, was content with tracing the line back to the Italian family of Colonna; perhaps with more plausibility than marked the ambitious genealogy of Albert AchiUes, and perhaps with no less distinction, since the ancestral pretensions of the Colonnas are among the most ancient and renowned in all the world. FIRST APPEARANCE IN HISTORY What is certain is that the HohenzoUern family first authentically appears in history at about the time when, in 1077, the Emperor Henry IV was humiliating himself before Pope Hildebrand at Canossa, and that it took its name from Hohen Zollern, or Upper ZoUern, its ancestral seat among the Suabian Alps. In those days Suabia, under the Hohenstaufen dukes and emperors, was one of the chief feudatory states of the empire. But after the extinction of that dynasty, in 1268, Suabia became a "geographical expression," being broken up into a number of petty principahties. Among these latter were HohenzoUern Sigmaringen and HohenzoUern Hechingen, which are now united into that single province of HohenzoUern which forms a detached and isolated part of Prussia, enclosed by southern Wiii't- temberg and Baden. Near the town of Hechingen there stands today a magnificent modern castle, erected by William II on the site of the ancient home of his ancestors. MARRIAGE STARTS RISE Like the rival house of Hapsburg, the HohenzoUern line owed its first great rise in life to a fortunate marriage. 76 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS It was at the middle of the twelfth century that Frederick, Count of Zollern, became by virtue of marriage Burgrave of Nuremberg. That gave him extensive and valuable possessions in various parts of Germany, and placed him among the most important princes — though not yet an Elector — of the empire. So great, indeed, were his posses- sions that his two sons divided them between themselves, one taking Nuremberg and the Burgraviate and the other taking ZoUern and some other territories. It is with the former that we have now chiefly to do, as it was from that Franconian branch of the family that the Prussian line proceeded. From the other, the Suabian branch, came that Prince Leopold whose candidacy for the crown of Spain was a pretext for the Franco-German War of 1870, and that Prince Charles who is now King of Roumania. THE ACQUISITION OF BRANDENBURG The next great event in Hohenzollern history occurred in the early part of the fifteenth century. At that time the once important principality of Brandenburg had fallen into seemingly hopeless decay. The great Ascanian dynasty of Anhalt had become extinct, and under feudal law the territory had reverted to the Emperor. That monarch, Louis of Bavaria, gave it to his two sons, who still further ruined it by running it into bankruptcy and alienating a part of its area. Then Louis was deposed from the imperial throne and was succeeded by Charles of Moravia, who thus became proprietor of Brandenburg, and who also gave it to his two sons, Wencelaus and Sigismund. They, in turn, mortgaged it to their cousin, Justus, and the result was that when Sigismund became Emperor he found Brandenburg a heavy fiscal burden upon him. 77 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS For relief he turned to Frederick VI of Hohenzollern, Burgrave of Nuremberg. Finally, Frederick later was permitted to take possession of it. He became Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg and an elector of the empire. At his death in 1440 he ordered his possessions to be divided among his four sons. Two of them, however, waived their claims, and so the domain was temporarily divided into only two parts, Frederick II taking Brandenburg and Albert taking Nuremberg. Frederick was surnamed "The Iron" because of his firmness in subduing towns to his will, as his father had subdued the barons. It was he who made Berhn the capital of Brandenburg, and thus the destined capital of Prussia and of Germany. Thitherto Tanger- muende on the Elbe had been the seat of the Margraves of Brandenburg. POSSESSIONS REUNITED Frederick died in 1470, without issue, and was succeeded by his brother Albert, under whom the family possessions were thus reunited. This was Albert Achilles, thus sur- named because of his prowess as a soldier. His successor was John Cicero, so called because of his oratorical gifts. John's successor, the fourth elector, was Joachim Nestor, who was thus dubbed not because of his personal wisdom so much as because of his friendly patronage of learning and his foundation of the University of Frankfort on the Oder. It was his unhappy fate to have to deal with the Reformation and to fail to appreciate its significance. Joachim remained loyal to Rome, though his wife and sons and the great majority of his people became Protes- tants. He exiled his wife for her change of faith, and also began the German Judenhetze by ordering the expulsion of all Jews from his dominions. 78 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS SOME NOTABLE ELECTORS His son, Joachim H, was surnamed Hector because of his truculent spirit. It is recorded that once, in an after- dinner controversy, he drew his sword upon the famous Duke of Alva. He publicly adopted the Protestant religion, and confiscated the monasteries and other property of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a reckless spendthrift in scattering that wealth abroad. He was succeeded by his son, John George the Econ- omist, who was noted for his thrift and business methods. Also, it may be said, the Economist was the father of twenty-three children, of whom the last was born after John George's death at the age of seventy-three. Joachim Frederick, the eighth elector, had an uneventful reign. But the ninth, John Sigismund, marked another epoch in two ways. One was his substitution of Calvinism for Lutheranism. The other was his acquisition of the Dukedom of Prussia. The latter state had been formed under the suzerainty of Poland, and Albert of HohenzoUern of the Nuremberg branch of the family, grand master of the then moribund Order of Teutonic Knights, on the advice of Martin Luther, had made himself its first duke. On his death in 1618, without direct male heir, his kinsman, John Sigismund, who had married Albert's granddaughter, received from Poland recognition of his succession as duke. Under his successor, the weak and vacillating George WiUiam, the realm was made the prey of both factions in the Thirty Years' War; and, while George WilHam was ultimately forced by Gustavus Adolphus to declare himself on the Protestant side, his delay gave opportunity for Tilly's sack of Magdeburg. 79 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS FOUNDER OF PRUSSIA Next came the Great Elector, the real founder of the Prussian state, whose monument is one of the landmarks of Berlin. This was George William's son, Frederick William. He signalized his accession by ''estabhshing sovereignty," as he called it. In fact, it was the establish- ment of absolute autocracy. Also he compelled the Emperor to renounce his suzerainty over Brandenburg, and Poland to recognize the complete independence of Prussia. Thus he consolidated the whole realm under his own personal rule. Frederick founded the military power of Prussia, devel- oping a standing army, at first for domestic purposes, to impose his will upon the provinces, and afterward to make Prussia respected and feared abroad. As the ally of Sweden in the latter's war with Poland, he captured Praga, in the suburbs of Warsaw; and later, when the Swedes became allied with the French and invaded Brandenburg, he inflicted upon them at Fehrbelhn one of the most crushing defeats in history. He also waged maritime war against Spain. Frederick III, son and successor of the Great Elector, was perhaps the weakest and least worthy of all the hne. Yet he did some important things. He founded the Uni- versity of Halle and the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Next came his son, Frederick William I, whom Macaulay described as ''a prince who must be allowed to have possessed some talents for administration, but whose character was disfigured by odious vices and whose eccen- tricities were such as had never before been seen out of a madhouse." FREDERICK THE GREAT His son, so vilely persecuted and put in peril of death by his inhuman father, was the illustrious Frederick the 80 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS Great, who is said to have been acknowledged to be a great man by every one who ever wrote or spoke of him, excepting his own much-loved and highly gifted brother, Prince Henry. The latter was himself one of the very .^„. A.N^^, < POLAND ..i3i.!l ,^~fx^Sr-. < (BOHEMIA r'^ Mitz '^•--J^,. C O N F-^ED E R A T I O "N ^/ £■> ^7- ' BERG >^ :j, ^'VtiL * '. -^ ^6#"^f. ^SS. i ... ? ^ i V^ /^ .'•' / •' •" ""^ lt *^ '' .■': r(,.-.^ ) '■ <^ / •■■Geneva ,. < . .,.■ ■• ^: Trent ) "^ 1-- ;LOMBAfiDY /V/ VENE.IIA Soundary of German Confederation shoivn thuj Boundaru of Prustia 5howp thus- Other Boundaries thus f^any small German States have been omit ed from this map. tngl'Sh Milti The German Confederation in 1815 ablest captains of his age, perhaps second only to Frederick, and was certainly capable of appreciating greatness in others. That he was moved by jealousy of Frederick is scarcely conceivable. On the other hand, Frederick never wearied of expressing appreciation and admiration of his bi'other. 6 81 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS It was Frederick who placed Prussia among the great powers of Europe and who opened the way for placing her in Austria's old place at the head of the Teutonic world. Then he died, childless, and left the crown to the son of his brother, Augustus William, who, as Frederick William II made of his court a harem, characterized with a flagrant grossness of debauchery seldom rivaled in any civilized capital. For eleven years Ufe in BerHn was an orgy, and the foreign activities of Prussia were either brutal spoliation, as in the partitions of Poland; or dis- graceful failures, as in the attack upon the French Revo- lution. CRUSHED BY NAPOLEON The one bright spot in the dark scene was presented by the purity of the domestic Hfe of the Crown Prince and his consort, the beautiful and gifted Louise of Meck- lenburg. But when this prince came to the throne as Frederick William III he showed himself as weak a King as he was a good man. Vacillating and hesitant, he at last opposed Napoleon, and was crushed at Jena and sent into long exile at Memel, leaving his Queen to be insulted by Napoleon and to die of a broken heart. Yet he must be credited with the choice of such administrative geniuses as Stein and Hardenberg, and he shared in the achieve- ments of Leipzig and Waterloo. He promised Prussia a constitution, but died with that promise unfulfilled, leaving to his son, Frederick William IV, an absolute despotism. Frederick WiUiam IV also delayed to fulfill that promise of his father's, though urged to it by the multitudinous appeals of the Prussian people. A man of attractive personality, he was pedantic, bigoted, and in pohtics almost fanatical in his adherence to the doctrine of divine 82 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS right. So he drifted bhndly into the Revolution of 1848, which he suppressed, but to which he was forced to yield so far as to grant the long-delayed constitution. Ten Prusso-German Acquisition, 1866 and 1871 years later he became paralytic and irftbecile, and was replaced by his brother as regent, and on his death three years later as King. OLD ''kaiser WILHELM" That brother was William I, the grandfather of the present King and Emperor. At his succession he was 83 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS probably the most hated man in all Prussia. Because of his stern and ruthless policy of suppressing the mob, the Revolution of 1848 raged against him more than against the King, and he was compelled to flee from Berlin in dis- guise to save his life, passing himself off as ^'Herr Francis J. Lehman, commercial traveler." Nor did his early acts as King seem designed to conciliate the people and win their affection. His — or his Minister Bismarck's — cynical and defiant overriding of the con- stitution which had been won after so long a struggle, increased dishke and distrust. The war for the spoliation of Denmark was intensely unpopular, and so was that against Austria in 1866. But he succeeded. In that was the redeeming feature of his career. Moreover, he was recognized as brave, frank, manly and truthful. And when at last he won the great war against France, and made Prussia the chief state of a new German Empire, of which the Prussian kings were forever to be emperors, he became as much beloved as he had ever been hated; and died in old age the idol of the German people. VERSAILLES OFFER NOT FIRST It is interesting to recall that it was not at Versailles, in 1871, that the imperial crown of Germany was first offered to the King of Prussia. It was, as already men- tioned, offered to Frederick Willielm IV in the strenuous days of 1848, but was refused by him. Why? Because it was offered to him by the German people and his divine right principles would not permit him to accept it from such a source. Had it been offered by the '' heaven- ordained" princes he would have accepted it without hesitation! At Versailles, in 1871, the offer of the crown was made to William I by the princes of Germany, and, 84 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS therefore, he accepted it; being about as great a stickler for ''divine right" and having as much contempt for the people as his brother. After WiUiam I came his son, Frederick III, the Noble, for a three-month reign; one of the knightliest figures that ever graced a throne. Latest of all, comes the present King and Emperor, William 11. THE LATEST HOHENZOLLERN The story of the latest sovereign of the HohenzoUern hne is not yet complete. It is being written upon the map of the world in characters of blood and fire and utter devastation. But one salient fact stands out obvious and undisguisable. That is, a paradox comparable with any of those which mark his exemplar, Frederick the Great. For when, in the early years of his reign, everybody was apprehensive lest he should prove an international fire- brand and involve all Europe in war, he sedulously culti- vated and maintained the peace. On the other hand, after twenty-five years of peaceful reign, when people were generally regarding him as one of the great bulwarks of peace, he became involved in and involved nearly all Europe in the greatest war of history. Twelve electors, nine kings, and three emperors; but, since one was both elector and king, and three both kings and emperors, a total of twenty sovereigns. Such is the record of the house of HohenzoUern. Much more than any other sovereign house now occupying a throne, it has for centuries been intimately and commandingly associated with the greatest mihtary and diplomatic transactions of the European continent, but never before with any approximating the present in importance not only to that family but also to all the world. 85 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS AUSTRIA AND THE HAPSBURGS Those inclined to regard omens might see much signifi- cance in the course of Austria during the last generation. The ancient injunction to that land, or to its rulers, the Hapsburgs, was Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube — let others wage wars; do thou, fortunate Austria, gain thine ends by marriage. In modern j^ars Austria has been making unfortunate marriages, and has vainly sought to gain her ends by means of war. And it is one of the impressive facts of history that scarcely once in her more than eleven centuries of existence has Austria been entirely successful in an aggressive war, unless through the aid of powerful allies, while seldom has she been victorious even in self-defense, even against inferior powers. On the contrary, she has been beaten again and again, by almost every power with which she has come into contact. CHRONICLES OF DISASTER When the Hapsburg dukes came into possession of the Eastern Mark, six centuries and a third ago, they extended their domain ''by marriage, by purchase and otherwise,'' but Httle, if at all, by force of arms, unless those of their allies. The one great Hapsburg victory in battle, the Marchfeld, was won by others than Austrians. The Swiss beat Austria repeatedly, at Morgarten and at Sempach. The Turks beat her, besieging Vienna and compelling the payment of much tribute as the price of her retention of territories beyond the Leith. The Poles beat her in the days of Rudolph II. The French beat her in the days of Ferdinand III and took Alsace from her in the Peace of Westphalia. The Hungarians and Turks beat her badly and again besieged Vienna, and would have 86 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS taken that capital and conquered all Austria had not John Sobieski and the Poles come to the rescue. It is true that the famous Prince Eugene did win some notable victories over the Turks, though not solely with Austrian forces; but the fruits of them had to be largely relinquished. Frederick the Great of Prussia beat Austria badly, and she was saved from ruin only by the succor given by the Hungarians and other allies. Again in the Seven Years' War the great Frederick vanquished her. The French revolutionists beat her and drove her out of Lombardy and the Netherlands. Napoleon defeated her, and in 1809 despoiled and humiliated her at will. In the Grand Alliance, at Leipsic and elsewhere, the leadership was given to her for political reasons, and she merely shared in the victories of her alhes. The Venetians beat her in 1848, and though she did recoup that loss she quickly suffered defeat at the hands of the Hungarians, and was saved only by the intervention of Russia. The Sardinians and French overwhelmed her in 1859, and she was saved from far heavier losses than those which she actually suffered only by the perfidy of Louis Napoleon in betraying and selling out his ally. Finally, in 1866, Prussia inflicted upon her one of the most crushing and humiliating defeats in history. A POLYGLOT AND PATCHWORK REALM We commonly speak of Austria-Hungary as the ''Dual Realm." It is in fact manifold. No other in the world is of so varied and complex formation. Austria alone, not reckoning polj^glot Hungary, consists of seventeen states, called ''lands." Of these three are kingdoms, namely, Bohemia, Dalmatia, and Gahcia and Lodomeria 87 STORY or THE CENTRAL POWERS united. The two from which the whole empire takes its name, Upper Austria and Lower Austria, are archduchies. Six are duchies — Bukovina, Carinthia, Carniola, Salzburg, Silesia and Styria. Two, Goerz-Gradisca and Tyrol, are princely countships. Two, Moravia and Istria, are Races of the Austrian Empire in 1915 margraviates. Trieste and its environs form a special crown land, and Vorarlberg is simply a '4and." Each of these seventeen '4ands" has its own local legislature, or Diet, ranging in numbers of members from twenty-four in Vorarlberg to 242 in Bohemia. These bodies, elected for six years and meeting yearly, legislate like American state legislatures on all matters not specifi- cally reserved for the Imperial Parliament. They control taxation, education and public works, and in Tyrol and Vorarlberg they have control also of the militia, and their STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS consent is necessary for its employment in any other provinces of the empire. MANY TRIBES AND TONGUES As might be supposed, the populations of these various provinces differ greatly in racial composition. The two Austrias (Upper and Lower), Salsburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and much of Carinthia and Styria, are occupied chiefly by Germans, who are found also around the edges of Bohemia and in much of Silesia. The rest of Silesia and the greater parts of Bohemia and Moravia are occupied by the Czechs. Western Galicia is Polish, as is also a small part of Silesia. Eastern Galicia and part of Bukovina are the home of the Ruthenians. In Carniola, Goerz- Gradisca, Istria, southern Styi'ia and Trieste the Slovenes predominate, though the Italians and Ladini are also found there and also in Tyrol and the towns of Dalmatia. Serbs and Croats are numerous in Istria and Dalmatia, and Bukovina is largely given up to Roumanians. The total population of the empire in 1900 was 26,107,304, and at the present time it may be as much as 29,000,000. Estimating it at the latter figure, the Germans may be reckoned at about 9,500,000, the Slavs at 18,500,000, and the Italians and Ladini, with a few Magyars and others, at 1,000,000. GERMANS DOMINANT Although the Germans thus form a small minority, they have always been dominant because of their unity and the lack of unity among the Slavs. The Hapsburg dynasty is, of course, purely German. Therefore the court is German, and so is the great mass of the aristocracy. The chief objection of the other Hapsburgs and the court 89 STORY OF THE CENTRAL POWERS to the Countess Chotek, the wife of the late Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was not merely that she was not of royal blood, but that she was not Austrian, being a member of an ancient Czech family of Bohemia. Until recently, too, the Germans formed a majority of the educated and wealthy classes. Above all, perhaps, they have had the advantage of language. For of all the many tongues of the empire, German is the only one that is of world-wide use and that possesses a Uterature generally known to the world. ^ [:j It has long been the aim of the Germans to Germanize the empire. This ambition first was openly manifested in the golden days of Maria Theresa, the greatest of all Austrian sovereigns. She decreed that the German language should be taught in every school and that every one of her subjects should learn it. Her successor, Joseph II, went still further, and made it the official language of the empire. In spite of all these efforts, however, the Slavs have long been increasing in numbers far more rapidly than the Germans, and have also been increasing their political and other influence. HUNGARY ALSO COMPOSITE The Kingdom of Hungary is only a little less composite than the Empire of Austria. With a population of 21,030,000 it comprises 10,050,575 Hungarians or Magyars, 2,037,435 Germans, 1,967,970 Slovaks, 2,949,032 Rou- manians, 1,833,162 Croats, and 1,106,471 Serbs. The Slovaks, Croats and Serbs are, of course, Slavs, numbering together 4,907,603. Adding these to the Slavs in Austria, we have a grand total of nearly 23,500,000 Slavs in the realms of a sovereign who began this world strife with a war against Slavs! 90 Chapter V THE STORY OF RUSSIA Redemption from Czarism in the War — Fall of the German Romanoff Dynasty — The Drama of a Thousand Years — Rurik and the Varangians — Early Designs Upon Constantinople — Batthng with the Tartars — Origin of the Romanoff Dynasty — Peter the Great and His "Window Looking on Europe" — Winning Recognition as a European Power — The Struggle for the Sea and the Struggle for Liberty — The Later Czars — Nihihsm and Its Crimes — Despotism of the Holy Synod — "Red Sunday" and the Revolution — EstabUshment of the Duma — Last Struggle of Absolutism — German Intrigues During the War — The Final Uprising of the People — The Russian Republic. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION is thus far the most significant achievement of the war. Doubtless it would have come in time, without the war; but doubtless also the war hastened it. There was an unconscious adumbra- tion of it at the very beginning of the war, effected by the Czar himself. That was when he changed the name of the capital from the German form St. Petersburg to the Russian Petrograd. It would have been well for him and his family if he could at the same time have abolished German influence along with the German name. Him- self by ancestry more German than Russian, and his wife almost wholly German, he was unable to get rid of the malign German influences which largely controlled the court, even though he was at war with Germany. In consequence, the people ultimately rose and swept him and the whole Romanoff dynasty, more German than Russian, out of existence. The Russian Republic is the greatest fact in the world's politics thus far in the twentieth century. 91 THE STORY OF RUSSIA It is therefore fitting that we briefly review the drama of more than a thousand j^ears, of which this transcendent achievement is the culmination. RURIK, OLEG AND IGOR We must turn back the pages of history more than ten and a half centuries to legendary times; when the great Norse chieftain Rurik and his two brothers invaded Russia with the Varangian crews of many Viking galleys, and founded Veliki Novgorod, the Great New Town, which long disputed with Moscow and Kieff the primacy among Russian cities. Rurik was succeeded by his son Igor, who during his minority was guided by the Regent Oleg, the Charlemagne of the North. It was Oleg who in the year 907 led an army to the very walls of Constantinople and thus first established the Russian design of possessing that city. The Greeks bought him off by making a favor- able treaty. But in 941 Igor again attacked the city, with a fleet on the Black Sea and Bosporus said to have included thousands of boats. He was repelled by the use of Greek fire; but returned to still another attack, and then was bought off. Igor met with a fate premonitory of many subsequent tragedies in the Russian Imperial line. Some of his rebellious subjects bent two stout trees together until their top branches touched near the ground, tied his right hand and foot to one tree and his left hand and foot to the other, and then released them. After- ward Igor's widow went to the city of Korosten, now Iskorosk, whose people did this thing, and pretended to wish to make peace. All she asked was that every house- holder in the city would give her a tame pigeon from his dove-cote. They readily complied with this request, whereupon, at evening, she released all the birds and let 92 THE STORY OF RUSSIA them fly back home, each with a burning firebrand tied to its tail; and thus destroyed the city. Igor begat Sviatoslav, who begat Vladimir, who begat Yaroslav, who begat Vsevolod, who begat Vladimir II, surnamed Monomachus, the first crowned ruler over all the Russian tribes and cities. DOLGOROUKIS OLDER THAN ROMANOFFS The youngest of the eight sons of Vladimir Monomachus was Uril of Souzdal, surnamed Dolgorouki, or the Long Armed; founder of the Dolgorouki family which has ever since been conspicuous in Russian affairs. The seventh of his eleven sons was Vsevolod II; the fourth of his eight sons was Yaroslav; and the fourth of his nine sons was that illustrious Alexander who won the surname of Nevski, ''of the Neva," by his brilliant victory over the Swedes in 1240. The fourth son of Alexander Nevski was Daniel, the first of the line of Princes of Moscow. Daniel begat Ivan, who begat Ivan II, who begat Dimitry, or Demetrius, who won the surname of Donskoi, ''of the Don," by his great victory over the Golden Horde of Tartars at Kulikovo, "the Field of the Woodcocks." A son of Dimitry was Vasili, or Basil, whose first son was another Vasili, called the Darkened, because during his reign he was taken prisoner by some of his hostile cousins and had his eyes burned out with a red hot sword. Vasili the Darkened was the first Russian Prince to be crowned at Moscow. After him came his son Ivan the Great, who was succeeded by his son Vasili III, who in turn was succeeded by the most monstrous figure in all Russian history, Ivan the Terrible, whose atrocities precipitated the extinction of the direct line of Rurik, and so gave opportunity for the ushering in of the Romanoff Dynasty. 93 THE STORY OF RUSSIA ROMAN OF GALICIA Now let US turn back to Vladimir Monomachus, whose line we have traced through and from his eighth son, Urii of Souzdal. Vladimir's first son was Mstislav, Grand Prince of Kieff, whose first son was Isiaslav, whose first son was Mstislav II. The first son of Mstislav II was Roman, of Galicia and Volhynia, and his first son was Daniel, surnamed Romano vitch and called "King of Galicia," who in his time was one of the most conspicuous and important princes in Eastern Europe and the founder of the Romanovitch branch of the family of Rurik. Again let us turn back to Ivan, Grand Prince of Moscow, son of Daniel and grandson of Alexander Nevski. We have traced his line through and from his third son, Ivan II, father of Dimitry Donskoi. The first Ivan's first son was Simeon, Grand Prince of Moscow, known as Simeon Ivanovitch, and Simeon the Proud. He was the first to call himself Grand Prince of All the Russias and to proclaim Moscow as the supreme capital. He died of the Black Death in 1353 and was buried at Moscow in the Cathedral of St. Simeon, which he built. To his court at Moscow there came in 1341 from Eastern Prussia one Andrei, or Andrew, Kobyla, a nobleman adventurer, and entered his service. This Prussian became a Russian, prospered greatly, and had a son Feodor, or Theodore, Koschka, who married a princess of the Romanovitch branch of the line of Rurik and became the founder of four great Russian families, of which two, the Scheremetieffs and the Romanoffs, are distinguished to this day. It is a curious coincidence that Nicholas II degraded his brother, the Grand Duke Mikhail, and excluded him from any share in the tercentenary celebration of the Romanoffs, for no other offense than marrying a member 94 THE STORY OF RUSSIA of this very Scheremetieff family which sprang from the same source as the Romanoffs themselves. Feodor had a son Ivan, who had a son Sakhariya Ivanovitch, who in turn had a son, Roman Sakhariya vitch. The last named had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Nikita, married Eudoxia Alexandrovna, a descendant of Andrei, eldest brother of Alexander Nevski, of Rurik's line. The daughter, Anastasia, became the first wife of Ivan the Terrible in 1547. THE SONS OF IVAN Ivan the Terrible the first Tsar of Russia, conqueror of Siberia, had numerous wives, and from his domestic infamies proceeded the downfall of his house. Anastasia Romanovna, the daughter of Roman Sakliariyavitch, bore him a son, Dimitry, who died in infancy; a second son, Ivan, whom the Tsar himself murdered; a third son, Feodor, and a daughter, Eudoxia; and then was herself murdered by court conspirators. A year later Ivan married a Tcherkess girl, whom he renamed Maria and who bore him a son, named either Vasili or Dimitry, who died in a few weeks. Maria died in 1569, and three years later Ivan married Martha Sobakin, who died within an hour of the wedding. A few months later he married Anna Koltovskoi, who was childless and whom he accordingly put into a convent so that he might marry another Anna, whom he also presently got rid of. In 1580 he married Maria Nagoi, and the next year planned to dispose of her and to marry Lady Mary Hastings, of England, if he could get her. But in the nick of time Maria Nagoi bore him a son, whom he named Dimitry, and thus saved herself from divorce or death. Happily Ivan himself died in 1584. 95 THE STORY OF RUSSIA The successor to the throne was Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia Romano vna. He was a weakling and was little more than a puppet in the hands of the Duma of five, of which the dominant members were Boris Godounoff, whose sister Irene was Feodor's wife, and Nikita Romanoff, Feodor's maternal uncle. Nikita died in 1586, however, leaving Boris supreme. Presently the Polish throne fell vacant and Boris put Feodor forward as a candidate for election to it. Feodor could probably have secured it and thus have united Russia and Poland, but for his stubborn refusal to be croTMied at Cracow or to recognize the Roman Catholic religion which prevailed in Poland. Thereupon the Poles elected Sigismund Vasa, of Sweden, to be their Eng and by so doing planted the seeds of great trouble between Poland and Russia. Next arose a conspiracy against Feodor by the Nagoi family, all of whose members had been banished from Moscow to Ought ch. This was ruthless^ suppressed by Boris and resulted in the sending of the first political exiles to Siberia. A little later, in 1591, the young Prince Dimitry, who had been permitted to remain at Ouglitch was found dead with his throat cut. Suspicion was directed against Boris, but he discreetly had an inquest held by some of the very persons who suspected him, with the result that he was vindicated, the verdict being that Dimitry had killed himself in a fit of epilepsy. BORIS, THE GREAT BOYAR Feodor had but one child, a daughter, who died in infancy. In 1598 he himself died, and his widow retired to a convent. Boris Godounoff was thus left supreme and was presently elected Tsar, and for years reigned with skill and justice, winning rank as one of Russia's best 96 THE STORY OF RUSSIA sovereigns. He hoped to form a dynasty of his own, however, and thus feared the rivalry of the four sons of his former colleague, Nikita Romanoff. Accordingly he sent the eldest of them, Feodor, into a monastery, and threw the others, Alexander, Vasili and Mikhail, or Michael, into prison. Boris, who was the founder of the system of serfdom and also of the Russian State Church, died on April 13, 1605, supposedly of poisoning, and was suc- ceeded by his fifteen-year-old son, Feodor. But the latter was soon swept away by an adventurer who was put forward by the King of Poland as the son of Ivan and Maria Nagoi; the story being that the youth who was found at Ouglitch with his throat cut was not Dimitry at all but one of his attendants. This impostor, who was probably Gregory Otrepier, an agent of Polish Jesuits, seized the Imperial crown, and threw the boy Tsar, Feodor, and his mother into prison, where they were soon murdered. Then he brought Maria Nagoi back from her convent prison and compelled her to recognize him as her son. Then, con- sidering his place secure, he brought a Polish bride, Marina Mnishek, to Moscow, with a great train of Poles and Cossacks. At this the people of Moscow revolted. Under the lead of Vasili Shouyskie, the man who had conducted the inquest on the body of young Dimitry at Ouglitch, and who was accordingly convinced that the Tsar Dimitry was an impostor, they stormed the palace, threw the pretender from the window, and slew him with their swords. Then Maria Nagoi recanted her recognition and declared that he was not her son. THE DAYS OF THE PRETENDERS Vasili Shouyskie, leader of the Tsar-slaying mob, was next proclaimed Tsar, in the spring of 1606, but was not ' 97 THE STORY OF RUSSIA long permitted to enjoy his sovereignty in peace. Pre- tenders sprang up as if by magic, chiefly on the fertile soil of Poland, whose King, Sigismund Vasa, was intent upon becoming the master of Russia. One story was that the false Dimitry had escaped when the palace was stormed, that the man who was thrown from the window and killed was not he but some one impersonating him, and that Dimitry himself was safe in Poland. Another story related to another person altogether, w^ho was said to be the real Dimitry of Ouglitch. A third pretender called himself Peter, son of Feodor Ivanovitch — who, as already related, had only one child, a daughter, who died in infancy. This pretender raised an army of Don Cossacks, but was defeated and slain. A fourth pretended to be a son of Ivan the Terrible; a fifth, the son of Ivan, the murdered son of Ivan the Terrible; and no fewer than eight more claimed to be sons of Feodor Ivanovitch. Of all this array none proved to be formidable. But in the spring of 1608 still another false Dimitry appeared under Polish patronage, who invaded Russia with a considerable army of Poles and Cossacks, penetrated almost to the environs of Moscow^, and established a rival imperial court at Toushin. There Marina Mnishek met him and declared him to be her husband, the original false Dimitry, and many Russian cities swore allegiance to him. Stubborn resistance was made to him, however, by the city of Rostov, where Feodor Romanoff was Metropolitan Bishop under the name of Philaret. In the end, however, the city fell, and Philaret was captured and let to Dimitry at Toushin, with the expectation of being put to death. Dimitry, thinking thus to strengthen his own position, greeted him in friendly fashion as a beloved kinsman of "our late half-brother/' the Tsar Feodor Ivano- THE STORY OF RUSSIA vitch, and made him Patriarch of Moscow and of All the Russias. RUSSIA IN ANARCHY Vasili still held out at Moscow against the pretender at Toushin, and civil war raged. But by 1610 Dimitry's cause waned and was evidently doomed to failure. There- upon Sigismund of Poland himself invaded Russia and put forward his son Vladislav as a candidate for the throne. Vasili in his desperation committed injudicious acts which provoked Moscow to revolt against him, and in July of that year he was forced to abdicate, and was sent to a monastery. A Duma, or Council of Nobles, was formed to conduct the government until another Tsar could be chosen. This Council hesitated for a time between the latest false Dimitry and Vladislav, but finally offered the crown to the latter, and many swore allegiance to him. At this crisis the Patriarch, Philaret, otherwise Feodor Romanoff, intervened for the salvation of Russia. He led a large delegation of ecclesiastics and nobles from Moscow to meet Sigismund at Smolensk, which city he was besieging, to inquire whether Vladislav, if accepted as Tsar, would adopt for himself the Orthodox Russian religion. The reply given was evasive and unsatisfactory, and the envoys were convinced that Sigismund was seeking the Russian crown for himself and was using his son as a mere mask. Philaret therefore sought to rouse the people of Moscow against the Polish Prince. The nobles, how- ever, betrayed the city into the hands of the Poles and the latter came in and took possession. Philaret was seized and sent as a prisoner to Poland. In Passion Week of 1611 civil war raged in the streets and nearly all of the city was burned, the Poles, however, still holding the 99 THE STORY OF RUSSIA citadel. Soon after Sigismund captured Smolensk, while Novgorod gave its allegiance to Karl, the second son of the King of Sweden. The Cossacks at Moscow were inclined to hail as Tsar an infant son of Marina Mnishek, while yet another false Dimitry arose at Ivangorod and established himself at Pskov. Chaos was complete and Russia seemed ruined beyond repair. SEEKING A SAVIOR Then at Nijni Novgorod a patriotic uprising began, led by a cattle dealer and butcher named Kozma Minin- Soukhorouk and by Prince Dimitry Pojharskie. The former professed to have had a divine call, like that of Joan of Arc, and thus aroused much religious enthusiasm. A large army was organized, led by Prince Dimitry, and it moved slowly forward toward the capital. It entered into negotiations with the Swedes, and seemed inchned to accept Karl as Tsar if he would adopt the Russian religion. Near Moscow it encountered the Poles and Cossacks, and won a hard battle. Thus warned, on October 24, 1612, the Poles in the Kremlin released a crowd of prisoners whom they had been holding there, including among them Mikhail Feodorovitch Romanoff, the son of Philaret. The next day the Poles surrendered the Kremlin and marched out, and the Russians reoccupied that citadel. This event marked the turning point of the crisis of Russian history. Sigismund, who had been moving toward Moscow, now halted and soon retired to Poland. Russia thus being freed from serious invasion, the digni- taries of church and state set to work upon the important task of selecting a new Tsar. The direct line of Rurik was extinct, and there was a strong repugnance to the 100 THE STORY OF RUSSIA election of any foreign prince. By common consent attention was generally turned toward Mikhail, or Michael, the son of Philaret. It was observed that the Romanoffs were closely connected by marriage with the line of Rurik. If they were to be credited with no great achievements, on the other hand they were to be charged with no serious misdeeds. There was nothing with which to reproach the young Prince. He had engaged in no political intrigues like those of Boris and Vasili. The son of the Patriarch, he was sound in the Orthodox religion. He had no rela- tionship nor sympathy with the Nagois and other con- spirators. Moreover his name Mikhail, was the same as that of Mikhail Skopin-Shouyskie, the brilliant young hero of a recent war who had been the idol of the Russian people and had been foully murdered. THE FIRST ROMANOFF In such circumstances and under such considerations the representatives of church and state were soon agreed in supporting the candidacy of the young Romanoff Prince. In ''Orthodox Week" of Lent, 1613, the Archbishop of Riazan, with a group of distinguished associates, faced a great conclave of Russian noblemen and clergy in the Red Square of Moscow, and asked who should be Tsar. There was a universal shout of ''Mikhail Feodorovitch Romanoff!" Thereupon envoys were sent to the Ipatewski Monastery at Kostroma, where Mikhail and his mother had taken refuge. The mother was reluctant to have her son proclaimed Tsar. Her husband was still a prisoner in the hands of the Poles and in peril of death, and she feared that her son would share the fate of so many other murdered princes. At last, however, she yielded, and on May 2, 1613, Mikhail entered the Kremlin as Tsar- 101 THE STORY OF RUSSIA elect. On July llth following he was crowned in the Ouspienskie Cathedral, and the Romanoff dynasty was fully established. For a year he and his associates had hard work to reorganize the disordered finances of the empire and to suppress various rebellions. It was harder still to settle with Sweden and Poland, but he was greatly aided by England in making peace with the former power, and on December 1, 1618, he made peace with Poland, though at the cost of surrendering a number of Russian cities. For this he was repaid, however, by the release of his father, Philaret, who came home in safety and was re- elected to the Patriarchate. With Mikhail at the head of the state and Philaret at the head of the church, the Russian Empire seemed to have emerged from its time of trouble. I The reign of Mildiail, for thirty-two years, in its quiet- ness and moderation presented a striking contrast to the stormy era which had preceded it. It was partly the quietness of national exhaustion and partly that induced by the wisdom and benevolence of the Tsar's father, Philaret, whose name was always joined with that of Mikhail in imperial decrees. The next Tsar, Mikhail's son Alexis, for thirty-one years showed himself an able, broad-minded sovereign, both progressive and aggressive, who codified Russian laws, developed trade, cultivated friendly relations with other countries, incorporated the Ukraine and the whole Cossack country with Russia, and regained the cities which his father had been com- pelled to relinquish to Poland. The third Romanoff, Feodor II, in half a dozen years did little save to neglect the good works of his predecessors. His chief claim to remembrance is that he destroyed the pedigree books which had long been a prolific source of bickering and wrangling among the nobihty. 102 THE STORY OF RUSSIA PETER THE GREAT Then came another crucial epoch in Russian history. There were two claimants of the throne, Ivan and Peter, sons of Alexis by his first and second wives. The dispute was compromised by letting the two reign jointly under the regency of Sophia, Ivan's elder sister. That arrange- ment lasted until the death of Ivan seven years later, when Peter sent Sophia to a convent and alone assumed the reins of autocracy. This was that Peter who gave Russia a frontage on the Black Sea and on the Baltic, who built St. Petersburg to be "a window looking on Europe;" who crushed Charles XII of Sweden at Pol- tava; who suppressed Mazeppa and the Little Russians; who conquered Esthonia, Livonia, Viborg and other Baltic provinces; who created a Russian navy and mercantile marine; who abolished the system of oriental seclusion of women and oriental dress for men, and who well-earned his title of Great. After his thirty-six years came his widow, Catherine I, who for her two years was content to let the govern- ment be conducted by Menshikoff , who had as a boy peddled cakes in the streets until he was taken up, for his good looks, as one of Peter's numerous favorites. He remained all-powerful during Catherine's reign, but soon after the accession of Peter II, son of Alexis, he was deposed and exiled by the Dolgorouki family, who led a reactionary revolution. Peter reigned only three years and at his death Russia fell almost into chaos again, amid the con- flicting claims of rival candidates. A secret council of nobles finally selected Anna of Courland, daughter of Ivan, the brother of Peter the Great, as sovereign. This choice was based upon the fact not that her claim was the strongest of all the candidates but that it was the 103 THE STORY OF RUSSIA weakest; the idea being that on that account she would be most subservient to the nobles. She indeed signed a document accepting terms which they imposed upon her, making her a mere puppet and vesting all real authority in the High Council. But she soon repudiated that con- tract and made her favorite lover, Biren, a German Cour- lander of low birth, supreme. Biren distinguished him- self by sending more than 20,000 political exiles to Siberia. Anna died after ten years on the throne and was succeeded by her grand-nephew, Ivan IV. Within the year Biren was expelled from court, Ivan was deposed and sent to prison for life, and Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Peter the Great, succeeded him. During her twenty years' reign Russia became assertive, made much advance in literature and the arts and defeated Frederick the Great of Prussia. She let the government be conducted chiefly by two of her favorites and finally drank herself to death. Her nephew Peter III succeeded her, but as she had brought him up in seclusion and ignorance he was utterly unfit for the place. He was a mere puppet in Prussian hands and gave back to Frederick the Great all that Elizabeth had taken from him. At that his wife, although herself a German Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, repudiated him and led the Orloffs and other nobles in deposing, imprisoning and murdering him. He was strangled to death by Alexis Orloff, who soon after betrayed to her death Princess Catherine, a daughter of the Empress Elizabeth. CATHERINE THE GREAT These tragedies left Catherine, widow of the murdered Peter, supreme, and for thirty-four years she was one of the greatest sovereigns Russia ever had, and at the same time one of the most infamous of women in all the history 104 THE STORY OF RUSSIA of the world. The splendor of her conquests and annexa- tion of territory, of the international prestige which she had for Russia, and of her law-giving to the Empire was rivaled only by the monstrosity of her vices and the depths of moral degradation to which she and her suc- cession of favorites plunged the Russian court. After her for five years came her son Paul, who began as a saint and ended as a demon and a lunatic and Was assassinated by his own courtiers just as he was at the point of joining Napoleon Bonaparte for the conquest of India. His son, Alexander I, was the Tsar who dealt with Napoleon at Eylau, Tilsit, Moscow and Leipsic; who added Finland, Poland, Bessarabia and much of the Caucasus to his empire; who founded the Holy Alhance and thus pro- voked the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine, and who was driven almost to insanity by fear of assassination at the hands of the seditious secret societies which then began to spring up all over Russia. At the end of his twenty-four years his son Nicholas became Tsar for thirty years; a pronounced reactionary, who defeated and despoiled Persia and Turkey, who crushed the Poles and Hungarians, and who died of a broken heart in the Crimean War. His son, Alexander II, was as liberal and progres- sive as he had been reactionary, and gained fame as the liberator of the serfs; but perished after twenty-six years as the victim of a Nihilist bomb thrower. His son, Alexander III, peace-loving and domestic, reigned for fourteen years in terror and darkness, for fear of sharing his father's fate, and was thus driven to an untimely grave. THE LAST OF THE CZARS His son and successor, Nicholas II, reigned more than twenty-two years and completed three hundred years of 105 THE STORY OF RUSSIA the Romanoff Dynasty. In his titles he epitomized the history and geography of the Russian Empire. He was officially styled the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, of Moscow, of Kieff, of Vladimir, of Novgorod; Czar of Kazin, of Astrakhan, of Poland, of Siberia, of Kherson-Taurida, of Grousi; Gousadar of Pskoff; Grand Duke of Smolensk, of Lithuania, of Volhynia, of Podolia, and of Finland; Prince of Esthonia, of Livonia, of Cour- land, of Semigalia, of the Samoyedes, of Bielostok, of Corelia, of Foer, of Ingor, of Perm, of Viatka, of Bulgaria and of other countries; Master and Grand Duke of the Lower Countries of Novgorod, of Tchernigoff , . of Riazan, of Polotsk, of Rostoff, of Jaroslaff, of Bielosersk, of Ondork, of Obdorsk, of Kondisk, of Vitelsk, of Metilaff, and of all the countries of the North; Master Absolute of Iversk, of Kastalnisk, of Kabardinsk; and of the territory of Armenia; Sovereign of the Mountain Princes of Tscherkask; Master of Turkestan; Heir Presumptive of Norway and Duke of Schleswick-Holstein, of Stomarne, of Dithmarse, and of Oldenburg. A GERMAN DYNASTY It must be observed that under a strict interpretation of the usual rule of dynastic descent, the Romanoff line would be held to have terminated with the death of the Empress Elizabeth in 176L For her successor, Peter III, was the son of Elizabeth's sister Anna, whose husband was the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. As a sovereign is attributed to the house of his father and not of his mother, therefore, Peter III was not a Romanoff but a Holstein- Gottorp, and was the first Tsar of a new dynasty, to which all Russian sovereigns since belonged. The Russian court insisted, however, that the greater family must 106 THE STORY OF RUSSIA have precedence over the less. Accordingly, when Anna Romanoff, daughter of Peter the Great, married Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, the offspring of that union was held to be more Romanoff than Holstein-Gottorp. The Holstein-Gottorp alliance, however, was not ignored, and Peter HI and all subsequent sovereigns were credited to the "House of Romanoff-Holstein." There was thus a certain fitness in the circumstance that this German dynasty which long had tyrannized over Russia should come to an end in a war with Germany, and as one of the results of that war. NIHILISM AND BIGOTRY The end of Czarism was precipitated partly by Nihilism and its crimes of violence, which maintained a reign of terror throughout the Empire while Alexander III was on the throne, and partly by the bigotry of the Procurator of the Holy Synod, who during that period was the power behind the throne. This fanatical ecclesiastic persuaded the Czar that the murder of his father and the other woes of Russia had been judgments of heaven, as punishment for laxity of faith and for too great tolerance of Jews and Dissenters. Accordingly a vast campaign of persecution was maintained, with repeated "pogroms" or massacres of Jews, and these things were continued in the reign of Nicholas II. These things, added to the great losses of the war with Japan, led to widespread disaffection among the Russian people, and the organization of a revolutionary move- ment. In January, 1905, occurred "Red Sunday." A great multitude of workingmen, led by a priest, approached the Winter Palace for the purpose of presenting a petition to the Czar for an increase of civil rights. They were 107 THE STORY OF RUSSIA ntirely peaceful in their demeanor, and offered no violence hatever. But the troops fired upon them, and hundreds w^ere slain. CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT There followed general disorder throughout the Empire, until in October, 1905, the Czar proclaimed a constitution and the establishment of a Duma, or national Parhament. The latter body met for the first time in April, 1906. It was dissolved on July 8th, having done little or nothing. A second Duma met in March, 1907, and had a stormy and ineffective career. The third met in December, 1907, and became a really authoritative and efficient legislative body. Thereafter there was a persistent fight for exten- sion of parliamentary and popular power, and restriction of the autocratic powers of the Czar. In this struggle the democracy made slow but steady gains, and Russia was moving toward a genuine constitutional system. The outbreak of the great war found government and people apparently united for a vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of the campaign. It was at the beginning of September, 1914, that the Czar by personal decree changed the name of the capital to Petrograd, and that moment marked the zenith of his reign. Soon there began to be perceptible indications of German influence. This was not sufficient to cause Russia's withdrawal from the war. But it did seriously hamper and at times defeat the operations of the armies. German spies continually betrayed Russian military plans to the enemy; and those spies were members of the court circle, if not of the imperial family. Worse than that, supplies of arms and ammuni- tion were withheld from the Russian army, thus dooming it to defeat. The great disasters in Poland were probably 108 THE STORY OF RUSSIA chiefly attributable to this cause. The Russian army was without suppHes, although there were abundant supphes in the hands of the government. THE END OF THE CZARS This treason was fatal to the dynasty, which was not unreasonably held responsible for it. The people were incensed, and, of course, the army was too. In consequence the army, instead of supporting the throne against the people, as thitherto, became itself the leader in revolu- tionary aspirations, and manifested a readiness to join with the people in overthrowing a dynasty which was the tool of alien foes. In March, 1917, came the end. There was a wholesale uprising of the people against the Czar. Some violence and loss of life occurred, but the troops in general mutinied and fraternized with the people. The Czar and his family were taken as prisoners of state, and the abdication of Nicholas II in behalf of his brother was exacted. After brief consideration, that brother declined to accept the crown unless he should be elected Czar by the free votes of the Russian people. A few days later the leaders of the Duma, who were in control of the government, decided not to retain the monarchy, but to organize a republican form of govern- ment, and to remove from office all members of the Roman- off or Holstein-Gottorp family, even including the Grand Duke Nicholas who had been so efficient and loyal a leader of the Russian army. Czarism had partially betrayed Russia, and Russia was done with Czarism and with all in any way connected with it. The Russian Empire was ended; the Russian Republic was begun. 109 Chapter VI THE ALLIED POWERS France and Her Vital Interests in the War — Germany's Former Attempts to Destroy Her and then to Woo Her as an Ally — The Russian Alhance — The Entente Cordiale between France and Great Britain — Practically a Triple Entente — Belgium as a Neutral State — Animosity between Great Britain and Germany — Why Great Britain was Compelled to Enter the War — Japan Drawn into Alliance with Her Former Foe — Italy's Anomalous Position in the Triple Alliance — Her Reason for Withdrawing from It and for Entering the War against Her Former AUies — Portugal an Old Ally of Great Britain. THERE ARE no such things as traditional friends or tra- ditional foes among the nations of the world. That fact is writ clear and large in the alignment of the powers in the great war. There are among the important European belligerents scarcely two enemies which were not formerly allies, and scarcely two allies which were not formerly foes. Observe : Great Britain and Germany, or in the last analysis Eng- land and Prussia, are the bitterest of all foes. Yet never before were they at war with each other, but in the last preceding general European war, which ended at Waterloo, they were allies. Russia and Germany are foes; yet never before did they fight each other, but more than once were allies. Italy is at war with Germany, but it is for the first time, and Prussia was practically Italy's ally in 1866 and 1870. Great Britain and France are allies; yet they have hitherto fought each other more than any other two pow- ers of Europe. They are both allies of Russia, yet they both fought Russia in the Crimea. Russia and Japan are 110 THE ALLIED POWERS allies; yet only a few years ago they were foes in a mighty war. Germany and Austria are allies; but they were foes in 1866. Germany's drive at france Of all the warring powers, France had at the beginning perhaps the most vital interest in the war. It was to her a matter of Hfe or death. The ancient quarrel, dating from the time of Charlemagne's sons, between her and Germany, was revived in 1870 by Germany on the strength of a falsified dispatch, deliberately falsified by Otto von Bismarck in order to drag France into war. As a result of that war France was robbed of two provinces and of a cash indemnity so vast that it was supposed she would be unable to pay it, or that in paying it she would be hope- lessly impoverished and ruined. To the chagrin of Ger- many, she paid it promptly and regained more than her old prosperity; whereupon a few years later Germany sought to force another war upon her with the confessed intention of ''bleeding her white." The diplomatic inter- vention of Great Britain balked this scheme of Germany's, and thus planted the seeds of that hatred of Great Britain which Germany has ever since cherished. Then Germany devoted herself to the incitement of enmity between France and Great Britain and also to efforts to induce France to join her in war against the ''modern Carthage," as Ger- man statesmen called the United Kingdom. France spurned these German overtures, and instead entered at first into an entente and then into a complete alliance with Russia. Under the diplomatic influence of Edward VII of England the irritation and estrangement which had for some time existed between France and Great Britain, largely through German marplotry, were 111 THE ALLIED POWERS allayed and an entente cordiale was established, which under George V became practically an alliance. And at the same time France was the means of bringing Russia and Great Britain into friendly relations and into something like an entente. All this intensified the wrath of Germany against France, and the result was that when the German Emperor decided to begin his long cherished war for the conquest of the world he aimed his first blow at France. Knowing that she was unprepared, he hoped to crush her completely before any other powers could come to her aid. Having done that, he could turn his triumphant armies against the next foe that appeared. NEUTRAL BELGIUM The chief blow at France was struck through Belgium, and it was thus that Belgium was brought into the war. The direct frontier between Germany and France was so strongly fortified by the French that a rapid invasion in that quarter was impossible. But the invasion to be suc- cessful must be rapid, so rapid as to assure the capture of Paris before the French army could be put on a war foot- ing or British or Russian armies be brought into the field. The French frontier abutting upon Belgium was unforti- fied, and invasion there would be easy, if only Belgium would give passage to the German army. This, of course, Belgium refused to do. The German Government strove to get Belgian consent, at first with bribes and blandishments and later with menaces. But Belgium was inflexible in her refusal; for a reason which the German imperial and official mind seemed unable to understand. That was, good faith and honor. Belgium was a neutral state. Her neutrality and the inviolability of her territory had been guaranteed by the powers, Ger- 112 THE STORY OF RUSSIA sovereigns. He hoped to form a dynasty of his own, however, and thus feared the rivalry of the four sons of his former colleague, Nikita Romanoff. Accordingly he sent the eldest of them, Feodor, into a monastery, and threw the others, Alexander, Vasili and Mikhail, or Michael, into prison. Boris, who was the founder of the system of serfdom and also of the Russian State Church, died on April 13, 1605, supposedly of poisoning, and was suc- ceeded by his fifteen-year-old son, Feodor. But the latter was soon swept away by an adventurer who was put forward by the King of Poland as the son of Ivan and Maria Nagoi ; the story being that the youth who was found at Oughtch with his throat cut was not Dimitry at all but one of his attendants. This impostor, who was probably Gregory Otrepier, an agent of Polish Jesuits, seized the Imperial crown, and threw the boy Tsar, Feodor, and his mother into prison, where they were soon murdered. Then he brought Maria Nagoi back from her convent prison and compelled her to recognize him as her son. Then, con- sidering his place secure, he brought a Polish bride, Marina Mnishek, to Moscow, with a great train of Poles and Cossacks. At this the people of Moscow revolted. Under the lead of Vasili Shouyskie, the man who had conducted the inquest on the body of young Dimitry at Ouglitch, and who was accordingly convinced that the Tsar Dimitry was an impostor, they stormed the palace, threw the pretender from the window, and slew him with their swords. Then Maria Nagoi recanted her recognition and declared that he was not her son. THE DAYS OF THE PRETENDERS Vasili Shouyskie, leader of the Tsar-slaying mob, was next proclaimed Tsar, in the spring of 1606, but was not f 97 THE STORY OF RUSSIA long permitted to enjoy his sovereignty in peace. Pre- tenders sprang up as if by magic, chiefly on the fertile soil of Poland, whose King, Sigismund Vasa, was intent upon becoming the master of Russia. One story was that the false Dimitry had escaped when the palace was stormed, that the man who was thrown from the window and killed was not he but some one impersonating him, and that Dimitry himself was safe in Poland. Another story related to another person altogether, who was said to be the real Dimitry of Ought ch. A third pretender called himself Peter, son of Feodor Ivanovitch — who, as already related, had onty one child, a daughter, who died in infancy. This pretender raised an army of Don Cossacks, but was defeated and slain. A fourth pretended to be a son of Ivan the Terrible; a fifth, the son of Ivan, the murdered son of Ivan the Terrible; and no fewer than eight more claimed to be sons of Feodor Ivanovitch. Of all this array none proved to be formidable. But in the spring of 1608 still another false Dimitry appeared under Polish patronage, who invaded Russia with a considerable arm^' of Poles and Cossacks, penetrated almost to the environs of Moscow, and established a rival imperial court at Toushin. There Marina Mnishek met him and declared him to be her husband, the original false Dimitry, and many Russian cities swore allegiance to him. Stubborn resistance was made to him, however, by the city of Rostov, where Feodor Romanoff was Metropolitan Bishop under the name of Philaret. In the end, however, the city fell, and Philaret was captured and let to Dimitry at Toushin, with the expectation of being put to death. Dimitry, thinking thus to strengthen his own position, greeted him in friendly fashion as a beloved kinsman of "our late half-brother/' the Tsar Feodor Ivano- 98 * THE STORY OF RUSSIA vitch, and made him Patriarch of Moscow and of All the Russias. RUSSIA IN ANARCHY Vasili still held out at Moscow against the pretender at Toushin, and civil war raged. But by 1610 Dimitry's cause waned and was evidently doomed to failure. There- upon Sigismund of Poland himself invaded Russia and put forward his son Vladislav as a candidate for the throne. Vasili in his desperation committed injudicious acts which provoked Moscow to revolt against him, and in July of that year he was forced to abdicate, and was sent to a monastery. A Duma, or Council of Nobles, was formed to conduct the government until another Tsar could be chosen. This Council hesitated for a time between the latest false Dimitry and Vladislav, but finally offered the crown to the latter, and many swore allegiance to him. At this crisis the Patriarch, Philaret, otherwise Feodor Romanoff, intervened for the salvation of Russia. He led a large delegation of ecclesiastics and nobles from Moscow to meet Sigismund at Smolensk, which city he was besieging, to inquire whether Vladislav, if accepted as Tsar, would adopt for himself the Orthodox Russian religion. The reply given was evasive and unsatisfactory, and the envoys were convinced that Sigismund was seeking the Russian crown for himself and was using his son as a mere mask. Philaret therefore sought to rouse the people of Moscow against the Polish Prince. The nobles, how- ever, betrayed the city into the hands of the Poles and the latter came in and took possession. Philaret was seized and sent as a prisoner to Poland. In Passion Week of 1611 civil war raged in the streets and nearly all of the city was burned, the Poles, however, still holding the 99 THE STORY OF RUSSIA citadel. Soon after Sigismund captured Smolensk, while Novgorod gave its allegiance to Karl, the second son of the King of Sweden. The Cossacks at Moscow were inclined to hail as Tsar an infant son of Marina Mnishek, while yet another false Dimitry arose at Ivangorod aod established himself at Pskov. Chaos was complete and Russia seemed ruined beyond repair. SEEKING A SAVIOR Then at Nijni Novgorod a patriotic uprising began, led by a cattle dealer and butcher named Kozma Minin- Soukhorouk and by Prince Dimitry Pojharskie. The former professed to have had a divine call, like that of Joan of Arc, and thus aroused much religious enthusiasm. A large army was organized, led by Prince Dimitry, and it moved slowly forward toward the capital. It entered into negotiations with the Swedes, and seemed incUned to accept Karl as Tsar if he would adopt the Russian religion. Near Moscow it encountered the Poles and Cossacks, and won a hard battle. Thus warned, on October 24, 1612, the Poles in the Kremlin released a crowd of prisoners whom they had been holding there, including among them Mikhail Feodorovitch Romanoff, the son of Philaret. The next day the Poles surrendered the Kremlin and marched out, and the Russians reoccupied that citadel. This event marked the turning point of the crisis of Russian history. Sigismund, who had been moving toward Moscow, now halted and soon retired to Poland. Russia thus being freed from serious invasion, the digni- taries of church and state set to work upon the important task of selecting a new Tsar. The direct line of Rurik was extinct, and there was a strong repugnance to the 100 THE STORY OF RUSSIA election of any foreign prince. By common consent attention was generally turned toward Mikhail, or Michael, the son of Philaret. It was observed that the Romanoffs were closely connected by marriage with the line of Rurik. If they were to be credited with no great achievements, on the other hand they were to be charged with no serious misdeeds. There was nothing with which to reproach the young Prince. He had engaged in no political intrigues like those of Boris and Vasili. The son of the Patriarch, he was sound in the Orthodox religion. He had no rela- tionship nor sympathy with the Nagois and other con- spirators. Moreover his name Mikhail, was the same as that of Mikhail Skopin-Shouyskie, the brilliant young hero of a recent war who had been the idol of the Russian people and had been foully murdered. THE FIRST ROMANOFF In such circumstances and under such considerations the representatives of church and state were soon agreed in supporting the candidacy of the young Romanoff Prince. In ''Orthodox Week" of Lent, 1613, the Archbishop of Riazan, with a group of distinguished associates, faced a great conclave of Russian noblemen and clergy in the Red Square of Moscow, and asked who should be Tsar. There was a universal shout of '^Mikhail Feodorovitch Romanoff!" Thereupon envoys were sent to the Ipatewski Monastery at Kostroma, where Mikhail and his mother had taken refuge. The mother was reluctant to have her son proclaimed Tsar. Her husband was still a prisoner in the hands of the Poles and in peril of death, and she feared that her son would share the fate of so many other murdered princes. At last, however, she yielded, and on May 2, 1613, Mikhail entered the Kremlin as Tsar- 101 THE STORY OF RUSSIA elect. On July 11th following he was crowned in the Ouspienskie Cathedral, and the Romanoff dynasty was fully established. For a year he and his associates had hard work to reorganize the disordered finances of the empire and to suppress various rebellions. It was harder still to settle with Sweden and Poland, but he was greatly aided by England in making peace with the former power, and on December 1, 1618, he made peace with Poland, though at the cost of surrendering a number of Russian cities. For this he was repaid, however, by the release of his father, Philaret, who came home in safety and was re- elected to the Patriarchate. With Mikhail at the head of the state and Philaret at the head of the church, the Russian. Empire seemed to have emerged from its time of trouble. The reign of Mikhail, for thirty-two years, in its quiet- ness and moderation presented a striking contrast to the stormy era which had preceded it. It was partly the quietness of national exhaustion and partly that induced by the wisdom and benevolence of the Tsar's father, Philaret, whose name was always joined with that of Mikhail in imperial decrees. The next Tsar, Mikhail's son Alexis, for thirty-one years showed himself an able, broad-minded sovereign, both progressive and aggressive, who codified Russian laws, developed trade, cultivated friendly relations with other countries, incorporated the Ukraine and the whole Cossack country with Russia, and regained the cities which his father had been com- pelled to rehnquish to Poland. The third Romanoff, Feodor II, in half -a dozen years did little save to neglect the good works of his predecessors. His chief claim to remembrance is that he destroyed the pedigree books which had long been a prolific source of bickering and wrangling among the nobihty. 102 THE STORY OF RUSSIA PETER THE GREAT Then came another crucial epoch in Russian history. There were two claimants of the throne, Ivan and Peter, sons of Alexis by his first and second wives. The dispute was compromised by letting the two reign jointly under the regency of Sophia, Ivan's elder sister. That arrange- ment lasted until the death of Ivan seven years later, when Peter sent Sophia to a convent and alone assumed the reins of autocracy. This was that Peter who gave Russia a frontage on the Black Sea and on the Baltic, who built St. Petersburg to be "sl window looking on Europe;" who crushed Charles XII of Sweden at Pol- tava; who suppressed Mazeppa and the Little Russians; who conquered Esthonia, Livonia, Viborg and other Baltic provinces; who created a Russian navy and mercantile marine; who abolished the system of oriental seclusion of women and oriental dress for men, and who well-earned his title of Great. After his thirty-six years came his widow, Catherine I, who for her two years was content to let the govern- ment be conducted by Menshikoff, who had as a boy peddled cakes in the streets until he was taken up, for his good looks, as one of Peter's numerous favorites. He remained all-powerful during Catherine's reign, but soon after the accession of Peter II, son of Alexis, he was deposed and exiled by the Dolgorouki family, who led a reactionary revolution. Peter reigned only three years and at his death Russia fell almost into chaos again, amid the con- flicting claims of rival candidates. A secret council of nobles finally selected Anna of Courland, daughter of Ivan, the brother of Peter the Great, as sovereign. This choice was based upon the fact not that her claim was the strongest of all the candidates but that it was the 103 THE STORY OF RUSSIA weakest; the idea being that on that account she would be most subservient to the nobles. She indeed signed a document accepting terms which they imposed upon her, making her a mere puppet and vesting all real authority in the High Council. But she soon repudiated that con- tract and made her favorite lover, Biren, a German Cour- lander of low birth, supreme. Biren distinguished him- self by sending more than 20,000 political exiles to Siberia. Anna died after ten years on the throne and was succeeded by her grand-nephew, Ivan IV. Within the year Biren was expelled from court, Ivan was deposed and sent to prison for life, and Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Peter the Great, succeeded him. During her twenty years' reign Russia became assertive, made much advance in literature and the arts and defeated Frederick the Great of Prussia. She let the government be conducted chiefly by two of her favorites and finally drank herself to death. Her nephew Peter III succeeded her, but as she had brought him up in seclusion and ignorance he was utterly unfit for the place. He was a mere puppet in Prussian hands and gave back to Frederick the Great all that Elizabeth had taken from him. At that his wife, although herself a German Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, repudiated him and led the Orloffs and other nobles in deposing, imprisoning and murdering him. He was strangled to death by Alexis Orloff, who soon after betrayed to her death Princess Catherine, a daughter of the Empress Elizabeth. CATHERINE THE GREAT These tragedies left Catherine, widow of the murdered Peter, supreme, and for thirty-four years she was one of the greatest sovereigns Russia ever had, and at the same time one of the most infamous of women in all the history 104 ome of Carpa imbere and wi ^^9C S P ft) S-rf 3 Oi P O t» r<- < S ' c crq S^--3 I-! -" -x 3 ?t- tr ^ «> c ^, O tK r/i P g rl- r+S C-o 3 0- C P 5i H 3 El P ;/) > s^s-;; ?c p o o P c^ gerly ws a rgan ,nd a i» P- n' f^ ^ •z !onteste harge o ations i aptabih n o > ° S e: C(q o k-i > CD o c 2 S) o its of ossac and d we 5 ^^^ I^Tr^ K ^^ ^-' t?d ~ tt) >-! X n O p 3 P ^ 0,0 r+ > 2 «,'-"3 o ^ •^ ■-* „ o O CB ^ fo tr'^ 2.0 j-.tbP 3 o^CR 3 ^ ,he s bat hter thei ^ ?= S"5 c ^9 £-3^ o His H-< o >-! 3-2 o o^ P crq £.3' p v ^ S ^ a;~=: ? S ^ f-c 03 QJ cy-) -C O , • S-W ^ S ^ 3 tt a3 "^ 03 o c c ^ " ?; o ^ C oi s ^ - >>•- = C Oj tH rt > c *^ L_, CJ tn OJ ^-* t;^ -T3 t, V 4) • 1S Oi ^ ^03 '-' o -"^ I "S g ^ 0/ bC C H ^ ^ t-, -S M H ^ r-- 0; +3 o 0-3 C-O . 03 ■ S 03 03 '^ ^ ill THE STORY OF RUSSIA of the world. The splendor of her conquests and annexa- tion of territory, of the international prestige which she had for Russia, and of her law-giving to the Empire was rivaled only by the monstrosity of her vices and the depths of moral degradation to which she and her suc- cession of favorites plunged the Russian court. After her for five years came her son Paul, who began as a saint and ended as a demon and a lunatic and was assassinated by his own courtiers just as he was at the point of joining Napoleon Bonaparte for the conquest of India. His son, Alexander I, was the Tsar who dealt with Napoleon at Eylau, Tilsit, Moscow and Leipsic; who added Finland, Poland, Bessarabia and much of the Caucasus to his empire; who founded the Holy Alliance and thus pro- voked the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine, and who was driven almost to insanity by fear of assassination at the hands of the seditious secret societies which then began to spring up all over Russia. At the end of his twenty-four years his son Nicholas became Tsar for thirty years; a pronounced reactionary, who defeated and despoiled Persia and Turkey, who crushed the Poles and Hungarians, and who died of a broken heart in the Crimean War. His son, Alexander II, was as liberal and progres- sive as he had been reactionary, and gained fame as the liberator of the serfs; but perished after twenty-six years as the victim of a Nihilist bomb thrower. His son, Alexander III, peace-loving and domestic, reigned for fourteen years in terror and darkness, for fear of sharing his father's fate, and was thus driven to an untimely grave. THE LAST OF THE CZARS His son and successor, Nicholas II, reigned more than twenty-two years and completed three hundred years of 105 THE STORY OF RUSSIA the Romanoff Dynasty. In his titles he epitomized the history and geography of the Russian Empire. He was officially styled the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, of Moscow, of Kieff, of Vladimir, of Novgorod; Czar of Kazin, of Astrakhan, of Poland, of Siberia, of Kherson-Taurida, of Grousi; Gousadar of Pskoff; Grand Duke of Smolensk, of Lithuania, of Volhynia, of Podolia, and of Finland; Prince of Esthonia, of Livonia, of Cour- land, of Semigalia, of the Samoyedes, of Bielostok, of Corelia, of Foer, of Ingor, of Perm, of Viatka, of Bulgaria and of other countries; Master and Grand Duke of the Lower Countries of Novgorod, of Tchernigoff, of Riazan, of Polotsk, of Rostoff, of Jaroslaff, of Bielosersk, of Ondork, of Obdorsk, of Kondisk, of Vitelsk, of Metilaff, and of all the countries of the North; Master Absolute of Iversk, of Kastalnisk, of Kabardinsk; and of the territory of Armenia; Sovereign of the Mountain Princes of Tscherkask; Master of Turkestan; Heir Presumptive of Norway and Duke of Schleswick-Holstein, of Stomarne, of Dithmarse, and of Oldenburg. A GERMAN DYNASTY It must be observed that under a strict interpretation of the usual rule of dynastic descent, the Romanoff line would be held to have terminated with the death of the Empress Elizabeth in 176L For her successor, Peter III, was the son of Elizabeth's sister Anna, whose husband was the Duke of Holsteiti-Gottorp. As a sovereign is attributed to the house of his father and not of his mother, therefore, Peter III was not a Romanoff but a Holstein- Gottorp, and was the first Tsar of a new dynasty, to which all Russian sovereigns since belonged. The Russian court insisted, however, that the greater family must 106 THE STORY OF RUSSIA have precedence over the less. Accordingly, when .\j.' .. Romanoff, daughter of Peter the Great, married Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, the offspring of that union was held to be more Romanoff than Holstein-Gottorp. The Holstein-Gottorp alliance, however, was not ignored, and Peter HI and all subsequent sovereigns were credited to the ''House of Romanoff-Holstein." There was thus a certain fitness in the circumstance that this German dynasty which long had tyrannized over Russia should come to an end in a war with Germany, and as one of the results of that war. NIHILISM AND BIGOTRY The end of Czarism was precipitated partly by Nihilism and its crimes of violence, which maintained a reign of terror throughout the Empire while Alexander IH was on the throne, and partly by the bigotry of the Procurator of the Holy Synod, who during that period was the power behind the throne. This fanatical ecclesiastic persuaded the Czar that the murder of his father and the other woes of Russia had been judgments of heaven, as punishment for laxity of faith and for too great tolerance of Jews and Dissenters. Accordingly a vast campaign of persecution was maintained, with repeated "pogroms" or massacres of Jews, and these things were continued in the reign of Nicholas H. These things, added to the great losses of the war with Japan, led to widespread disaffection among the Russian people, and the organization of a revolutionary move- ment. In January, 1905, occurred "Red Sunday." A great multitude of workingmen, led by a priest, approached the Winter Palace for the purpose of presenting a petition to the Czar for an increase of civil rights. They were 107 THE STORY OF RUSSIA entirely peaceful in their demeanor, and offered no violence ' Udtever. But the troops fired upon them, and hundreds were slain. CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT There followed general disorder throughout the Empire, until in October, 1905, the Czar proclaimed a constitution and the establishment of a Duma, or national Parliament. The latter body met for the first time in April, 1906. It was dissolved on July 8th, having done little or nothing. A second Duma met in March, 1907, and had a stormy and ineffective career. The third met in December, 1907, and became a really authoritative and efficient legislative body. Thereafter there was a persistent fight for exten- sion of parliamentary and popular power, and restriction of the autocratic powers of the Czar. In this struggle the democracy made slow but steady gains, and Russia was moving toward a genuine constitutional system. The outbreak of the great war found government and people apparently united for a vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of the campaign. It was at the beginning of September, 1914, that the Czar by personal decree changed the name of the capital to Petrograd, and that moment marked the zenith of his reign. Soon there began to be perceptible indications of German influence. This was not sufficient to cause Russia's withdrawal from the war. But it did seriously hamper and at times defeat the operations of the armies. German spies continually betrayed Russian military plans to the enemy; and those spies were members of the court circle, if not of the imperial family. Worse than that, supplies of arms and ammuni- tion were withheld from the Russian army, thus dooming it to defeat. The great disasters in Poland were probably 108 THE STORY OF RUSSIA chiefly attributable to this cause. The Russian army was without supphes, although there were abundant supplies in the hands of the government. THE END OF THE CZARS This treason was fatal to the dynasty, which was not unreasonably held responsible for it. The people were incensed, and, of course, the army was too. In consequence the army, instead of supporting the throne against the people, as thitherto, became itself the leader in revolu- tionary aspirations, and manifested a readiness to join with the people in overthrowing a dynasty which was the tool of alien foes. In March, 1917, came the end. There was a wholesale uprising of the people against the Czar. Some violence and loss of life occurred, but the troops in general mutinied and fraternized with the people. The Czar and his family were taken as prisoners of state, and the abdication of Nicholas II in behalf of his brother was exacted. After brief consideration, that brother declined to accept the crown unless he should be elected Czar by the free votes of the Russian people. A few days later the leaders of the Duma, who were in control of the government, decided not to retain the monarchy, but to organize a republican form of govern- ment, and to remove from oflSce all members of the Roman- off or Holstein-Gottorp family, even including the Grand Duke Nicholas who had been so efficient and loyal a leader of the Russian army. Czarism had partially betrayed Russia, and Russia was done with Czarism and with all in any way connected with it. The Russian Empire was ended; the Russian Republic was begun. Chapter VI THE ALLIED POWERS France and Her Vital Interests in the War — Germany's Former Attempts to Destroy Her and then to \^'oo Her as an Ally -- The Russian Alliance — The J'ntenie Cordiale between France and Great Britain — Practically a Triple Entente — Belgium as a Neutral State — Animosity between Great Britain and Germany — ^\ hy Great Britain was Compelled to Enter the War — Japan Drawn into AlUance with Her Former Foe — Italy's Anomalous Position in the Triple AUiance — Her Keason for Withdrawing from It and for Entering the War against Her Former .^ -lies — Portugal an Old Ally of Great Britain. THERE ARE no such things as traditional friends or tra- ditional foes among the nations of the world. That fact is writ clear and large in the alignment of the powders in the great war. There are among the important European belligerents scarcely two enemies which were not formerly allies, and scarcely two allies which were not formerly foes. Observe : Great Britain and Germany, or in the last analysis Eng- land and Prussia, are the bitterest of all foes. Yet never before were they at war with each other, but in the last preceding general European war, which ended at Waterloo, they w^ere allies. Russia and Germany are foes; yet never before did the}^ fight each other, but more than once were allies. Italy is at w^ar with Germany, but it is for the first time, and Prussia was practically Italy's ally in 1866 and 1870. Great Britain and France are allies; yet they have hitherto fought each other more than any other two pow- ers of Europe. They are both allies of Russia, yet they both fought Russia in the Crimea. Russia and Japan are 110 THE ALLIED POWERS allies; yet only a few years ago they were foes in a mighty war. Germany and Austria are allies; but they were foes in 1866. Germany's drive at France Of all the warring powers, France had at the beginning perhaps the most vital interest in the war. It was to her a matter of life or death. The ancient quarrel, dating from the time of Charlemagne's sons, between her and Germany, was revived in 1870 by Germany on the strength of a falsified dispatch, deliberately falsified by Otto von Bismarck in order to drag France into war. As a result of that war France was robbed of two provinces and of a cash indemnity so vast that it was supposed she would be unable to pay it, or that in paying it she would be hope- lessly impoverished and ruined. To the chagrin of Ger- many, she paid it promptly and regained more than her old prosperity; whereupon a few years later Germany sought to force another war upon her with the confessed intention of '' bleeding her white." The diplomatic inter- vention of Great Britain balked this scheme of Germany's, and thus planted the seeds of that hatred of Great Britain which Germany has ever since cherished. Then Germany devoted herself to the incitement of enmity between France and Great Britain and also to efforts to induce France to join her in war against the '' modern Carthage," as Ger- man statesmen called the United Kingdom. France spurned these German overtures, and instead entered at first into an entente and then into a complete alliance with Russia. Under the diplomatic influence of Edward VII of England the irritation and estrangement which had for some time existed between France and Great Britain, largely through German marplotry, were 111 THE ALLIED POWERS allayed and an entente cordiale was established, which under George V became practically an alliance. And at the same time France was the means of bringing Russia and Great Britain into friendly relations and into something like an entente. All this intensified the wrath of Germany against France, and the result was that when the German Emperor decided to begin his long cherished war for the conquest of the world he aimed his first blow at France. Knowing that she was unprepared, he hoped to crush her completely before any other powers could come to her aid. Having done that, he could turn his triumphant armies against the next foe that appeared. NEUTRAL BELGIUM The chief blow at France was struck through Belgium, and it was thus that Belgium was brought into the war. The direct frontier between Geraiany and France was so strongly fortified by the French that a rapid invasion in that quarter was impossible. But the invasion to be suc- cessful must be rapid, so rapid as to assure the capture of Paris before the French army could be put on a war foot- ing or British or Russian armies be brought into the field. The French frontier abutting upon Belgium was unforti- fied, and invasion there would be easy, if only Belgium would give passage to the German army. This, of course, Belgium refused to do. The German Government strove to get Belgian consent, at first with bribes and blandishments and later with menaces. But Belgium was inflexible in her refusal; for a reason which the German imperial and official mind seemed unable to understand. That was, good faith and honor. Belgium was a neutral state. Her neutrality and the inviolability of her territory had been guaranteed by the powers, Ger- 112 \tl/it J Copyrtyht Sun Printing and Publishing Ass'n. A Pistol Duel in the Air A German Taube monoplane having located the British forces and made a sketch ol their position, was suddenly attacked from above by a British Bristol biplane and a i-rench Bieriot monoplane. In this way many pilots were shot in the air and their machines brought to the ground. THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR apparent, Rudolph, and his mistress, at Meyerhng, and the butchery of King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia at Belgrade. Neither of these has ever been explained, while each was invested with circumstances which seem to suggest some relationship with the crime at Sarajevo. HOW DID THE ARCHDUKE DIE? The Austrian Government insisted that the murder of Francis Ferdinand was the result of a criminal conspiracy formed by Serbs and promoted and directed from Serbia, perhaps by the Serbian Government itself. In support of this theory it pointed to the fact that there had been anti-Austrian agitations in Serbia ever since the Austrian rape of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbian Government denied that such was the case. The best informed Serbs in private did not hesitate to ascribe the crime to entirely different sources. They pointed out that the murdered Archduke had been beloved by the Serbs, because he had married a Slav and was believed to regard their national aspirations with favor; while he was hated by the Germans of Austria, even by the old Emperor Francis Joseph himself. There was thus no reason why the Serbs should wish to get rid of him, while there were reasons why his removal would be wel- come to the Germans, particularly if the responsibility for it could be made to seem to rest upon the Serbs. The Serbs therefore insisted that the crime was planned and directed by Austrians, probably by members of the Austrian court. Some thought that it was not intended to kill him, but merely to wound him, and thus provide a pretext for a quarrel with and conquest of Serbia. Others, the majority, however, held that it was meant to kill 9 129 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR both him and his wife, and that the German Government at BerUn was privy to the crime. In support of these astounding theories the Serbs were able to point to several well-established facts, showing the devious ways of Austrian ''provocative agents." FORMER AUSTRIAN PLOTS Some weeks before the tragedy at Sarajevo the ''Reichs- post^' of Vienna, a sort of court organ, printed several articles which hinted that something serious was likely to happen soon in Bosnia. In the same paper a year before there had been similar hints at coming events in Croatia. The sequels to those former hints were the alleged discovery of bombs intended for criminal purposes, and a series of trials at Agram for treason felony. But it was afterward revealed that the bombs which were there used or "found," and which served as the basis of prosecutions for treason felony, had been in fact manu- factured for the purpose in one of the government arsenals. They were carried by a government agent from Austria into Montenegro, thence to be transferred to Croatia. At an appointed place and time this agent passed the bag containing them to another person, who was to be the scapegoat, and the latter was presently arrested with the bombs in his possession. Of course, he was surreptitiously set at liberty, while a number of innocent persons were accused of complicity in the plot. THE BELGRADE BUTCHERY It has come to be pretty well known, too, that the butchery of the Serbian sovereigns, Alexander and Draga, at Belgrade, was incited and directed by Austria. The affair was not intended to be a tragedy at all, but merely 130 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR a kidnapping and compulsory abdication, such as had been successfully forced upon Alexander of Bulgaria many years before. But in attempting to execute that design, passions rose higher than had been expected and got quite out of hand, and the gruesome butchery was the result. So it was meant that the Archduke at Sarajevo should merely be made to appear to have been in deadly peril. That would throw suspicion upon Serbia and rouse Austrian anger against her, and provoke a breach between the crown prince and the Serbs, with whom he was growing too friendly to please the Hapsburg ''Ring." THE archduke's POLITICS It is also to be taken into account that the Archduke, despite his former anti-Magyar proclivities, which had won for him the hatred of the ruling caste in Hungary, had entered into sympathetic relations with the so-called Hungarian Independence party; precisely, it is sugges- tively recalled, as Archduke Rudolph did just before the mysterious tragedy at Meyerling. By his attitude at that time toward the Hungarians, Rudolph incurred the bitter animosity and resentment of the Hapsburg ''Ring," and the unexplained tragedy which overcame him has by many been regarded as having had a political origin. The fact is that Francis Ferdinand, having recovered from the madness of the days in which he was a follower of the notorious Jew-baiting Dr. Lueger in his "Christian Socialist Anti-Semite Party," and his almost equally venomous anti-Magyar propaganda, had adopted the momentous design of recasting the Dual Realm and of transforming it into a Federal Empire on a basis resembling that of Germany. He meant that when he became Emperor there should be a number of sovereign states. Austria 131 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR should have the hegemony of them, as Prussia does in Germany. But there should be several other ostensible independent and equal states, such as Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, and perhaps Moravia and Transylvania. This design was intensely offensive to the old Emperor and the entire Austrian court, and also to the ruling castes in Austria and Hungary. It was equally offensive to the German Emperor at Berlin, who was cherishing the design, after the death of Francis Joseph, of subordinating Austria- Hungary more than ever to German domination. On the other hand the Serbs, both in the empire and in Serbia itself, looked upon his plans as on the whole favorable to them. The creation of a strong Serb state of the empire, comprising Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, would be for the immediate advantage of its inhabitants and would greatly strengthen their hands for the ultimate revolt against Austrian domination and the recreation of the great Serbian Empire. It was also welcome to them because of the dissension which it would create between Francis Ferdinand and the rest of the Hapsburgs. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CRIME So much for motives and lack of motives for the crime of Sarajevo. Certain indisputable circumstances were strangely suggestive. One was the course which was taken by the driver of the car in which the Archduke and his wife were riding. Instead of proceeding along the chief street of the city, w^hich was simply Hned from end to end with pohce, he suddenly, and without orders, turned the car into another narrower and comparatively obscure street, running parallel with the main street, on which there were few if any police. 132 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR It was on this side street that the tragedy occurred. Why that course was taken is a question which has not been and probably never will be satisfactorily answered, but which inevitably provokes grave speculations and suspicions. Nor has it been explained why, just before the murderous attack was made, the driver, without orders, slowed down the car, as if to facilitate the assault. It is said, it is true, that this change in the route was made because of the bomb-throwing in the main street shortly before. But that convinces nobody. The very fact that the bomb-throwing did occur on the main street, and that in consequence all the police of the city had been massed there, is regarded as the very best reason why the second trip should have been made along the same thoroughfare. It is also pointed out that the murders were committed by a youth who knew something which down to that time had supposedly been known by nobody outside of the imperial household. That was that the Archduke wore a buUet-proof waistcoat, for which reason the assassin shot at his head instead of his breast. How did the assassin get that knowledge? HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED The news of the tragedy was instantly transmitted to Vienna, and it was an extraordinary circumstance that practically every important personage of the court, save only the Emperor, was there to hear it, though it was Sunday, and usually they all went out of town on Saturday in summer. No grief, but rather satisfaction, if not exul- tation, was expressed. The news was sent to the old Emperor at Ischl, and his only comment was, ''What impertinence of those Bosnians!" The pohce of Sarajevo were never reprimanded for not guarding the Archduke 133 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR better, but, on the contrary, the heads of the force were promoted. The coffins containing the bodies of the Archduke and his wife were brought to Trieste by sea, handled as so much freight. When they were being unloaded from the steamer the sailors let one of them drop upon the quay, and let it lie there until they had got rested from carrying it. The funeral was conducted in third-class style, with not even sufficient candles for the chapel ardente. At Arstatten a violent storm drove the funeral party to shelter in a tavern, where most of the party got drunk. There were tales in Vienna of the coffins being placed on chairs and then tumbled off upon the floor. On the whole, the late heir to the throne was buried with less respect than would have been shown to some hired lackey of the court. All of which gives poignancy to the fearful speculation. Who murdered the Archduke? Austria's demands upon Serbia Following the tragedy at Sarajevo diplomatic commu- nications were conducted between the Austro-Hungarian and Serbian governments, the latter earnestly striving to ameliorate the situation and to reach an amicable settlement, but the former almost undisguisedly seeking to force an open quarrel. At the same time intercourse between Vienna and Berlin was such as to indicate that the policy of the Aus- trian Government was being dictated by the German. Finally, at six o'clock on the evening of July 23d, Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia, an answer to which was required within forty-eight hours, or before six o'clock on the evening of July 25th. This contained eleven cate- gorical demands, which with the Serbian replies may be summarized as follows: 134 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR Serbia's replies 1. That the Serbian Government give formal assurance of its condemnation of Serb propaganda against Austria. To this Serbia unhesitatingly assented. 2. That a declaration to this effect be published in the next Sunday's issue of the Serbian ''Official Journal." To this Serbia also assented. 3. That this declaration express regret that Serbian officers had participated in the propaganda. To this Serbia assented, despite the fact that no proof of such participation was offered. 4. That the Serbian Government promise to proceed rigorously against all guilty of such machinations. To this Serbia assented. 5. That this declaration be at once communicated by the King of Serbia to his army and published in the official bulletin as an order of the day. To this Serbia assented. 6. That all anti-Austrian publications in Serbia be sup- pressed. To this Serbia assented. 7. That the Serbian political party known as the National Union be suppressed and its means of propaganda be confiscated. To this, too, Serbia assented. 8. That all anti-Austrian teaching in Serbian schools be suppressed. To this Serbia assented. THREE EXTRAORDINARY DEMANDS 9. That all officers, civil and military, who might be designated by Austria as guilty of anti-Austrian propaganda, be dismissed by the Serbian Government. Extraordinary as was this demand, for Austrian proscription of Serbian officials, so eager was the Serbian Government for peace and friendship that it assented to it; merely stipulating 135 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR that the Austrian Government should offer some proof of the guilt of the proscribed officers. 10. That Austrian agents should be permitted to enter Serbia to co-operate with the Serbian Government in sup- pressing all anti-Austrian propaganda, and to take part in the judicial proceedings conducted in Serbia against those charged with complicity in the crime at Sarajevo. This astounding demand, which was in effect that Austrian agents should control the police and courts of Serbia, it was impossible for Serbia to accept without abrogating her sovereignty. She did not, however, unconditionally reject it, but asked that it be the subject of further dis- cussion, or be referred to arbitration. 11. That Serbia explain to Austria the meaning of anti- Austrian utterances of Serbian officials at home and abroad, since the crime of Sarajevo. This was assented to, on condition that if the explanations given were not satis- factory, the matter be submitted to mediation or arbitration. GERMANY DICTATES REJECTION Thus Serbia granted ten of Austria's demands, and did not altogether reject the eleventh, although it was obvious that its acceptance would mean the end of Serbian liberty and independence. It is probable that the Austrian Government, left to itself, would have accepted the replies, or at any rate would have continued diplomatic negotiations. It must have done so, had it been sincere in its profession of desire merely to obtain reparation for the tragedy. But the German Emperor apparently deemed the moment fitting for the launching of a long contemplated war of conquest against the rest of Europe. His army, navy and entire empire were in a state of the most perfect readiness for instant action, while not one of his potential antagonists 136 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR was in even the usual condition of preparedness. And his will was scarcely less supreme at Vienna than at Berlin. Therefore the Austrian Government summarily rejected the Serbian replies as wholly unsatisfactory, and the Austrian minister quitted Belgrade. EFFORTS TO KEEP THE PEACE That was on the evening of July 25th. Instantly the news was flashed over the world, and various govern- ments interested themselves in efforts to prevent this breach of relations from leading to war. Russia intimated that she could not with indifference see Serbia oppressed. Great Britain urged that Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain hold a conference for mediation or arbitra- tion. This was exactly in accord with the policy to which all the powers had pledged themselves in the treaty of The Hague. It was an eminently fair proposal, since it excluded Russia and Austria-Hungary, as prejudiced parties, and included only four powers which might reasonably be supposed to be impartial. If they had any predilec- tions, Germany and Italy were Austria's partners in the Triple Alliance, while Great Britain and France were Russia's friends in the Triple Entente. The proposal was promptly accepted by France and Italy, but was summarily rejected by Germany. That was on July 27th. The next daj^ Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia. Russia declared that, on the day on which Austrian troops invaded Serbia, there would be a mobilization of Russian troops, in order to prepare for further contingencies. Thereupon Germany took the initiative and the aggressive. She proclaimed that she would not permit any interference by anybody between Austria and Serbia, but that Austria must be 137 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR left free to work her will, whatever it might be, upon her little neighbor. She ordered Russia to stop mobiUza- tion proceedings and to dismiss whatever troops had already been mobilized; and she demanded of France an immediate and categorical statement of what that country would do in case of a war between Germany and Russia. More arbitrary and insolent utterances were probably never made by any power. They were obviously intended to mean either universal European subjection to Prussian autocracy, or war. In fact they meant war. FALSEHOODS AND SCRAPS OF PAPER Germany declared war upon Russia on August 1st, because Russia would not refrain from mobilizing her army at Germany's demand. Austria meantime three days before had bombarded the Serbian capital. On August 2d German troops invaded Luxembourg and Belgium, thus regarding as ''scraps of paper" Germany's solemn treaty pledges to respect and to defend the inviolability of those neutral states. At the same time German troops violated the French frontier, without any declaration of war. The next day Germany declared that France had begun war against "her, by sending hostile aeroplanes across the frontier to bombard German towns and railroads. It has since been officially acknowledged in Germany that these charges against France had no foundation in fact; so that war was really declared by Germany against France on the basis of a German falsehood. Belgium's appeal answered The Belgian Government made appeal to Great Britain, as one of the guarantors of Belgian neutrality, for pro- 138 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR tection against the invading German army. The British Government therefore at once demanded of Germany withdrawal of the invaders and respect for the neutraUty of Belgium. The reply was a flat rejection of the demand and an attack by the German army upon the Belgian city of Liege. Thereupon, at eleven o'clock on the evening of August 4th, the British Government declared that a state of war with Germany existed. The United States Government, through the President, at once made the customary proclamation of neutrality, on the same conditions that had prevailed in other foreign wars to which this country was not a party; and other neutral nations generally did the same. Italy, though an ally of Germany and Austria in the Triple Alliance, also made a proclamation of neutrality, informing Germany as she did so that she considered that the circumstances of the declaration of an aggressive war by Germany and Austria released her from all obligations under her treaty with those powers. Thus the issues were joined, and the world's greatest war was begun. 139 Chapter IX THE WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS Three Epochs of a Stupendous Campaign — The Invasion of Belgium — Briahnont's Work — Liege the Savior of Europe — Unspeakable Atrocities of the Gennans — Northern France Overrun — The Drive at Paris — Battles of the Marne and Aisne — Ypres and Loos — Beginning of Trench Warfare — The Second Epoch of the Campaign — The German Drive at Verdun — "They Shall Not Pass" — Beginning of the Third Epoch — The Campaign on the Somme River — Bapaume and Peronne the Impregnable — The Great British and French Drive from Switzerland to the Sea — Breaking of the "Hindenberg Line" and Steady Retreat of the German Armies. THE WAR in western Europe, has seen three major stages, or epochs, in which three nations successively have held the center of the stage in opposition to the German inva- sion. The first was very short, measured in weeks, or perhaps only days; when the handful of Belgians were holding back the multitudinous German legions until France, taken all unawares, could rally her forces for the defense of Paris. The second lasted a year and a half, when France, putting forth efforts which would have seemed incredible had they been predicted in advance, held the Germans in check until a British army could be created out of raw material and be put into the field. The third, now prevailing, is marked by the tremendous and apparently irresistible aggressiveness of the British army in cooperation with its French allies. Let us very briefly review these three epochs; briefly, because this is not a complete and detailed history of the war, but merely such an account of it as wiU make clear the chief happenings before the United States was dragged into the fray. 140 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS LIEGE THE IMMORTAL August 3, 1914. Like the Egyptian plague of locusts, devouring the land, the German armies rushed forward to devour France. They were four in number. One struck through central Belgium, the second through Luxembourg, the third between Metz and Nancy, and the fourth between the Vosges and the Swiss frontier. We have to do with the first named, by far the most formidable of all. Admitting that invasion of Belgium would be gross violation of law and treatment of a neutrality treaty as a ''scrap of paper," the German Government had tried to seduce Belgium into consenting to the deed. Since Belgium would not be seduced, but held out for faith and honor, Germany went in with force. The frontier was crossed on August 3d, [and on the next day the invaders reached and began to attack the first of the Belgian fortified cities, Liege. Brialmont, the great mihtary engineer, had made it as he supposed impregnable. But that was before the days of the 42-centimeter guns. These stupendous engines soon pounded Brialmont's steel and masonry forts into ruin. But it took them three days to do it. Indeed, the last of the Liege forts was not reduced until August 18th. And by causing that delay to the German advance, Liege was the savior of Europe. Had it not been for that delay, and the time it gave France to mobilize her troops, Paris surely would have fallen. On August 20th Brussels was occupied without resistance. On the fol- lowing three days the first great battle was fought at Namur, Mons and Charleroi, as a result of which the Belgians, French and British were driven back and the German rush toward Paris began. 141 WAR IN FRANCE AND" FLANDERS THE MARTYRDOM OF BELGIUM Meantime the Germans instituted such a reign of atrocities in Belgium as the world had not known since the days of Tilly and Pappenheim, or perhaps of Timur Leng and Genghis Khan. This campaign of '^f rightful- ness" was ordered from Berlin, partly in the hope of terrifying the nations into submission, and partly in vin- dictive spite against Belgium for having dared to resist the will of the Kaiser. Almost every principle of inter- national law was violated. Unfortified and undefended cities and towns were sacked and burned. Unoffending civilians were murdered by hundreds, and by other hundreds were put to death wholesale by the military authorities on various lying pretences. Vast tributes were exacted from municipalities, under threat of destruc- tion of the towns and massacre of the inhabitants. Private houses and shops were looted. The university library of Louvain, one of the most precious in the world, was wantonly burned. Churches were looted and their altars used as latrines Men, women and children were tor- tured to ;. death, by crucifixion, by burning alive, and by hideous mutilations. Women, from girls scarcely in their teens to venerable granddames, were ravished by hundreds, generally in public where their children, parents or hus- bands were compelled to witness the infamy; many of them being thus abused by many soldiers until they died under the torture. Living or dead, they were often obscenely mutilated, and then their mangled bodies were ''pegged out" upon the ground with bayonets or stakes driven through them. Babes were snatched from their mothers' arms and tossed about on bayonet points. Whole families, after indescribable ill treatment, were fastened in their houses and the houses burned. All through 142 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS Belgium and northern France, wherever the German armies went, there was such an orgy of lust, loot and murder as the civilized world had not seen for centuries. SALVATION OF THE MARNE Meanwhile, reinforced by armies which had pushed through Luxembourg, the Germans swept on toward -~>i— CXTRCME GERMAN LINE, SEPT. 6^f Position of the Western Armies on October 1, 1914 Paris. By September 3d the French and their allies had been driven to the line of the Seine, Marne and Verdun, and the French Government fled from Paris to Bordeaux. But the French army, with a small British contingent, halted there to give battle. ^'We stop the Germans here," 143 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS said the French commander, ''or here we all die." For three daj^s the contest, one of the world's decisive battles, raged; the allied lines held firm; by September 9th the entire German army was in retreat; and Paris was saved. The allies followed the retreating foe as far as the River Aisne, where the Germans turned and gave battle. In magnitude the battle was greater than that at the Marne had been, but its results were less decisive. The Germans held their ground, and established themselves in the systems of trenches which were thereafter so striking a feature of the war on the western front. By the middle of September the Germans were thus established along a line from near Verdun to Bapaume which, with minor changes, they continued to hold for two years. THE WAR IN FLANDERS From Bapaume northward desperate struggles con- tinued for some time. The Belgians and British, who chiefly represented the allies there, at first hoped to hold a line running from Bapaume through Lille, Ghent and Antwerp. But from October 9th to 12th the three places last named were taken by the Belgians. There was desperate fighting at Ypres and at Loos, in which two- thirds of the British army was destroyed or disabled, but the surviving remnant stubbornly held on. The little Belgian army also inflicted heavy losses upon the Germans on the Yser, and with the aid of floods caused by cutting the dikes prevented further advance of the invaders. The year ended with the Germans in possession of all of Belgium save a small triangle at the extreme southwest corner of the kingdom. On the lines thus established, the armies remained for two years, waiting for the British Government to recruit, 144 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS train and equip an army of several millions. And just as the Belgians held the Germans in check for a few days until the French could get ready to fight for Paris on the Marne, so during all this longer time it fell chiefly to the French to hold the Germans back until the British could come to their aid. Meantime the Germans did all the damage they could to the parts of France which they were occupying, taking especial pleasure in mutilating or destroying priceless works of art and historic buildings. Thus they nearly destroyed and hopelessly damaged the cathedral of Rheims, one of the noblest churches and most interesting historic landmarks in the world. THE SECOND STAGE There followed more than a year and a half of trench fighting, with few important gains for either side and no decision of the whole campaign. The Germans were paying chief attention to the war against Russia on the eastern front, and the French were simply holding their own until the millions of soldiers in the British training camps could be prepared to take the field, and until artillery and munitions superior to that of the Germans could be provided. There was a fierce renewal of the German drive toward Calais, in April, 1915, which was repulsed by the allies. In September of that year the allies launched a general drive against the German Hues along nearly the whole front. In Picardy and Artois the British fought a series of bloody battles, aiming toward Lille and centering around Loos, while the French in Champagne won some consider- able successes. Following these operations, an attempt was made at both points to break through the German line. But by this time hundreds of thousands of German 10 145 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS troops had been hurried across from Poland, and the allies were not only repulsed but were also once more placed upon the defensive. ^^THEY SHALL NOT PASS" The third stage of the western war began in the last week of February, 1916, and for four months was marked with a persistent ferocity never before witnessed in this or any war. It began with a German attack upon the French fortress town of Verdun. The German Crown Prince was in command, and at his disposal were hundreds of thousands of the very flower of the German army. His orders from his father were, that he must capture Verdun, at any cost. Upon that achievement depended his promotion to the rank of Field Marshal, which he coveted and which the Emperor felt it a reproach for him not to have. The first German attacks were successful, and at the northeast the French were driven back upon the city. Then the attack shifted to the northwest, around Dead Man's HiU, and for more than three months raged with a ferocity never before known. Foot by foot the French were driven back, taking three lives for every life they gave. Two forts close to Verdun were captured by the Germans, Douaumont on May 24th and Vaux on June 6th. But that was their high-water mark. From the beginning the French commander had grimly declared, "They shall not pass!" They did not pass. Worn with their furious onset the Germans halted, weakened, and faltered. The French raUied and assumed the aggressive. The drive at Verdun had failed. THE THIRD STAGE June, 1916, marked the turning of the tide of war on the western battle front. At the beginning of July came a 146 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS general forward movement of the allies in the valley of the Somme. All through July and August the Germans were inch by inch driven back toward Bapaume and Peronne, on a frontage of fifteen miles. In September the fighting grew still more bitter, and a new element was introduced, the British 'Hanks" or armored automobiles, which created great consternation among the enemy. In mid-November the severity of the weather compelled a slackening of the campaign. But in January the British gained further advantages, while the German Crown Prince made another attack upon Verdun. In March the allies began a '^ spring drive," and soon forced the Germans out of Bapaume and Peronne. This advance continued with steadily increasing force. The progress of the allies was measured by miles rather than, as before, by yards. The Germans feU back with fearful losses to the so-called Hindenburg line of fortifications. That line was quickly broken through by the allies, and they feU back to the Siegfried line. But by mid- April that too was broken, and the Germans, retreating and becoming demoralized, were compelled more and more to fight in the open instead of in trenches, and thus were placed at what seemed a hopeless disadvantage. In their retreat, however, the Germans showed them- selves if possible more ruthless and savage than they had been during their advance. They laid the country waste behind them to an almost incredible degree. Not only were aU fortifications, bridges and public works destroyed, but aU private buildings shared the same fate. Churches were first defiled and then wrecked. Venerable historic monuments, of no value for military or other practical purposes but priceless for their sentimental associations or their artistic beauty, were wantonly demohshed. Even 147 WAR IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS the tombs of the dead were violated, the monuments above them were overthrown and the coffins were dug up and rifled for the lead or copper linings which many contained. THE ITALIAN FRONTIER Immediately after declaring war against Austria, on May 23, 1915, Italy sent two armies against her foe. One invaded the Trentino and advanced toward Trent. A counter invasion of Italy in that region was made by Austria, but was repelled. The second and larger Italian army proceeded toward Trieste, by way of the Isonzo River and Gorizia. Much fighting was done, including some extraordinary operations on the slopes and summits of lofty Alpine peaks and ridges, but comparatively little was achieved in the way of conquest. Gorizia was captured by the Italians on August 8, 1916, but no further progress was made toward Trieste, save in an occasional aeroplane raid, which was returned by the Austrians with attempts to drop bombs upon the historic palaces of Venice. 118 Chapter X THE WAR IN THE EAST Serbia's Successful Defense — Russia's Invasion of East Prussia — The Disaster of the Masurian Lakes — Secrets of Russia's Weakness — The Conquest of Galicia — Tremendous Counterstrokes by Hindenburg and Von Mackensen — Przemysl and Lemberg — The German Invasion of Poland and the Baltic Provinces — Riga and Petrograd Threatened — The War in the Balkans — Conquest of Serbia — The Dardanelles and the GallipoU Campaign — Greece and Salonika — The Struggle at the Head of the Red Sea — Armenia and Mesopotamia. THE FIRST shots of the war were fired on the eastern frontier when Austrian artillery bombarded the Serbian capital, Belgrade, from across the Danube. This action was not important, and was soon followed by a far more successful counter attack by Serbians and Montenegrins upon Austria. An Austrian regiment which attempted to cross the Danube east of Belgrade was annihilated. On August 12th the Serbs and Montenegrins crossed the border into Bosnia and swept irresistibly toward Sarajevo. Heavy fighting occurred at Shabatz and on the Save River, in which the Serbs were on the whole successful. The Austrian invasion of Serbia was foiled, and the Serbian invasion of Bosnia was maintained. Meantime a far greater campaign was undertaken at the other side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Russian army was mobilized in three grand divisions. The center was in Russian Poland. The left wing, under the Grand Duke Nicholas, one of Russia's greatest generals, began on August 11th an invasion of Galicia, or Austrian Poland; while the right wing a week later crossed the border into East Prussia. 149 THE WAR IN THE EAST THE GALICIAN DRIVE The Russian left wing was at first highly successful. After seven days of incessant fighting it completely over- HUNGARY t^xy I % R U S * C*" — ' SUJCAREST. mm ills wm m ^^ \3cumBJ fC E Y ^9^ -5 \ Scene of War in the Near East 150 THE WAR IN THE EAST whelmed the Austrians on September 2d, and the next day occupied the important city of Lemberg. The next day HaHcz was taken; on September 9th the Austrians were vanquished in a hard battle at Rawaruska; on September 22d Jaroslav was captured, and five days later Russian troops were in the Carpathian mountain passes, and crossing the Hungarian frontier. The great fortress of Przemysl, the last Austrian stronghold left in GaHcia, was invested and besieged all that fall and winter, but was not captured by the Russians until March 22d. Its fall cleared the way for a Russian advance into Hungary, or would have done so had not something happened elsewhere to bring the Russian plans to naught. IN EAST PRUSSIA The Russian advance at the right was at first equally successful. East Prussia was invaded, and on August 26th Insterburg and on August 27th Tilsit were captured. An important victory was won at Gumbinncn, and the main Prussian army was apparently shut up in Konigsberg. A detachment of the Russian army moved forward into the region of the Masurian Lakes, to clear the way for an advance on the lower Vistula. That gloomy and forbidding region was, however, destined to be the scene of disaster for the Russians. Germany's greatest General, Hindenburg, known as the ^'Old Man of the Masurian Lakes," advanced to the attack upon them, with a superior force and with infinitely superior knowledge of the '4ay of the land." The Russians were trapped among the lakes and almost interminable marshes, in places where it was impossible for suppHes of munitions to reach them. For three days a tremendous conflict raged at Tannenburg and Aliens tein, which resulted 151 THE WAR IN THE EAST CULf OF D/fNZ/G- i<0N/G5BERG QUMBlNNEN^ o \posm emuJio, , WiRBPtLLEN \QSUV/fU.K/ NElOENdUR& l^NO / -sPUXH pOS50V!/fr2 oPPlf^f^^^ \GOMB/N ^socmczEi ^ J3LESCHE. P MUSZ OSIW\ C3 \RB5LfUJ \mU5Z ^ / LODZ I / PETPOkOV^ myOGKiRQtFSh "UNPOLZKJ 'icfr \ ft ^ *- ^ERNIBVICE ^f/fSZOW \P0CIN0 fl^f^^^^ ''"%^"\ JY/INGOMO i-ueun OKRfiSNIK •ifiNNOPOU ^lEOO^ *\^ '5J<0o ^A The Russq-German Theater of War 153 THE WAR IN THE EAST in the complete defeat of the Russian troops, with enormous losses. A retreat back into Russia followed, after which the initiative remained with the Germans, who presently began an invasion of Russia from Posen. POLAND INVADED Meantime the Germans and Austrians sought a diver- sion of the war at the two wings by means of a vigorous attack in the center. Hindenburg moved against Warsaw from the northwest, while an Austrian army moved toward the same city from the southwest. The Russian resistance was feeble, and by mid-October the Germans were within a short distance of Warsaw. This emergency compelled the Russians to withdraw troops from the Galician cam- paign to protect their center; which they did effectively. Within a week the Germans began to be driven back and before the end of the month they were cleared out of Poland. The Russians followed up their advantage, crossing the frontier into Posen on November 8th, and a week later resuming the Galician drive and advancing to within twenty miles of Cracow. Then the see-saw was repeated. Hindenburg struck furiously at Poland again, and again penetrated to the neighborhood of Warsaw. This compelled a withdrawal of Russians from Galicia and suspension of operations toward Cracow. The Germans were again driven back from Warsaw, and at the end of the year there was a renewal of the Russian aggressive all along the front. A third time, in February Hindenburg took the aggressive, this time at the Russian right, and succeeded in driving the Russians out of East Prussia. But the Russian center held firm, and at the left an important invasion of Hungary seemed imminent. 153 THE WAR IN THE EAST RUSSIAN DISASTERS Then the tide turned. The Russian army had exhausted its supplies of ammunition, and further suppUes were not forthcoming. There is reason to beheve that plenty of munitions were at hand, but were purposely withheld from the troops through the machinations of German intriguers in Russia. At any rate, the Russians were left without ammunition, to meet the onset of a furious German offensive. The German army under Von Mackensen set out from Cracow on April* 29, 1915, with an amplitude and com- pleteness of equipment as notable as was the R^ussian lack thereof. The advance was bewilderingly rapid. On May 6th Tarnow and Gorlice were taken, on June 3d the great fortress of Przemyslwas reoccupied, and Lemberg was entered on June 22d. For fifty-two days the Grermans advanced at the average rate of four miles a day. The reason was that they were moving against practically unarmed men. The Russian cannons were chiefly silent, and the men, with no cartridges, were fighting with clubbed rifles, knives and even with stones and bludgeons. THE CONQUEST OF POLAND Having swept the unarmed Russians out of Galicia, the Germans turned northward for the conquest of Russian Poland. Three powerful armies, from north, west and south, simultaneously converged upon Warsaw. Still destitute of proper supplies, the Russians could do nothing but retire, and it was a wonderful achievement that there, as in Gahcia, they were able to retire without being thrown into confusion and rout and without losing such equip- ment as they had. Never did a defeated army retire in better order. But it did retire. Kovno was abandoned 154 THE WAR IN THE EAST on August 17th, Brest-Litovsk on August 26th, and Grodno on September 3d. The German conquest of Poland was then practically complete. Meantime German armies at the extreme left were driving the Russian right before them, through Courland, until they were close to Riga and were planning to menace Petrograd itself. But from the fall of 1915 to the early summer of 1916 the Hues re- BoIdlAgeu' mained practically unchanged. The Germans were being kept busy on the western front, and the Russians were prepar- ing themselves for a renewal of their campaign under hap- pier auspices. ANOTHER RUSSIAN DRIVE Early in June, 1916, the Russian armies were ready for action. Under the command of General Brussiloff they struck, with their left, against the German and Austrian right, in Galicia and Buk- owina, with tremendous effect. The movement began on June 5th. Four days later Czernowitz was taken, and by the end of the month Kolomea was also captured. Stan- islau fell on August 9th, and a few days later Lemberg was threatened. Then, unfortunately, a diversion was caused by the German invasion of Roumania, and it was necessary to stop the Galician advance in order to send troops thither. During the rest of the fall and the winter of 1916-17, 155 Riga. CNOLISH MILES 1 'fi *P V THE WAR IN THE EAST therefore, little change occurred on that part of the battle front. The tremendous drives of the allies at the west made it necessary for all German troops that could be spared from the east to be sent thither, while the domestic revolution in Russia caused a suspension for the time of Russian activities. THE WAR AT THE STRAITS Turkey entered the war at the end of October, 1914, but it was not until four months afterward that it became involved in serious op- erations. It was in the latter part of Feb- ruary, 1915, that the allies undertook the formidable task of cap- turing Constantinople. This movement had two major objects. One was, to gain con- trol of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, so that supplies could be sent to Russia by that short and direct route instead of by way of the White Sea, which was obstructed with ice for much of the year and which landed supplies at a remote point from that at which they were needed, or by the still longer route across the Pacific Ocean. The other object was to cut the line of commAmication between Germany and 156 TBE B0SPH0RU8. Cr IJLI3H MILES 12 8 4 SEA OF MAR ^iif#'* c?^^- ^ -r: Munj^^ ■^ » ■' i . < X THE WAR IN THE EAST Asia Minor, so that the Central Powers could draw no further supplies from that source. An attempt was at first made to force the passage of the Dardanelles with the aUied fleet. Some of the forts at the entrance were bombarded and silenced, and allied vessels proceeded for some distance up the strait. But Germany had sent submarines overland to Constantinople, where they were placed in the Bosporus and thence went down to the Dardanelles, and the waters were th^ickly sown with mines. After the loss of several vessels from these causes the allies abandoned the attempt to force the passage with ships alone, and an army was sent to cooperate with the fleet. THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN The ensuing campaign was one of the most gallant but most fruitless of the war. The almost unprecedented feat was performed of safely landing a considerable army on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in the face of a hostile force much superior in numbers and powerfully entrenched. This was done on April 25th, and was repeated in the landing of a second army in June, further up the peninsula at Suvla Bay. Numerous minor engagements were fought, and the allies made some progress during the early part of the summer. Early in August a great battle was fought, lasting five days, in which the allies aimed to drive the Turks from the lower part of the peninsula. In this they failed, and the battle terminated indecisively. ' In one respect, however, it was decisive. It convinced the British military authorities of the foUy of attempting to pursue the campaign further. They held their ground for some time longer, however, until the entrance of Bul- garia into the war enabled the sending of German troops 157 THE WAR IN THE EAST and supplies to Constantinople, and a succession of phe- nomenal storms and floods almost swept the camps out of existence. At the middle of December Suvla Bay was abandoned, and on January 9, 1916, the last position of the allies on the ueninsula was evacuated. THE RAPE OF SERBIA Bulgaria's entrance into the war, on October 6th, was the signal for a concerted attack upon Serbia, for the purpose of eliminating that nation from the map of Europe. Bulgaria armies, reinforced by Turks, poured into Serbia from the east, while a German and Austrian army, under German command, crossed the frontier at the north. The purpose was not alone to destroy Serbia but to compel Greece to join the Central Powers or else share the fate of Belgium, and thus to give the Central Powers possession of the entire Balkan Peninsula, with a great frontage on the Mediterranean. 158 THE WAR IN THE EAST Disregarding Greek neutrality, or with the permission of the ministry, the allies began rushing troops to Salonika, to be sent to the defense of Serbia. But it was too late. The Serbians earlier in the war had been able to hold the Austrians in check, but they were unable to stand against a German army, while a Bulgar-Turkish force was attack- ing their flank. The German and Bulgarian armies met and joined forces at the end of October, and a few days later captured the important Serbian city of Nish. Before the end of the year every foot of Serbian soil had been conquered, and a large part of the Serbian people had been massacred. For nearly a year the Teuton-Bulgar forces had undis- turbed possession of Serbia, looting it and desolating it at will, while a polyglot army of allies, British, French, Serbian, Italian and Russian, stood at bay at Salonika. At last, however, the allies moved northward through Macedonia, and succeeded in redeeming a small part of Serbia, the Serbs reoccupying their city of Monastir, or what was left of it, on November 19, 1916. THE ROUMANIAN BLUNDER Early in the war agitation arose in Roumania for entry into the conflict. But lack of preparedness, and realiza- tion of the futility of the fortifications of Bucharest against modern artiUery, restrained the government from taking that step until the latter part of August, 1916 — more than two years after the outbreak of the war. Immediately after the declaration the Roumanian army invaded Tran- sylvania through several narrow mountain passes, which they strangely neglected to guard after their passage. The result was that the passes were seized by the Germans behind them, and they were all but annihilated. 159 M E D I t/e R B A N e AS S £ -4 I Burun THE WAR IN THE EAST By the middle of October the blundering Roumanians were all killed, captured, or scattered, and the German and Austrian army under Von Falkenhayn invaded Rou- mania. At the same time another German and Bulgarian army, under Von Mackensen, poured into Roumania from the south. The Roumanians rallied and offered desperate resistance to the invaders, but they were overwhelmed and in a few weeks more than half of the kingdom was occupied by the enemy, the capital, Bucharest, falling on December 6th. The advance of a considerable Russian army finally checked the in- vaders at the River Sereth. Immense supplies of food- stuffs and oil fell into the hands of the Germans, and the net result of the entry of Roumania into the war was a decided advantage for the Central Powers. THE WAR IN ASIA Three separate campaigns have been waged in Asia. One has been in Arabia and on the Egyptian frontier, where Turks and Germans made vigorous attempts to seize the Suez Canal and to incite an insurrection against British rule in Egypt. There the British were successful in defeating their foes. In addition, practically the whole of Arabia, including the Holy Cities of El Medina and Mecca, revolted against Turkey and established its inde- 160 THE WAR IN THE EAST pendence. The British forces then moved on, and early in the present year began the occupation of Palestine, with every prospect of soon expelling the Turks from all that country. THE DESOLATION OF ARMENIA Russia undertook at the beginning of the war a cam- paign through the Caucasus into Armenia and Asia Minor. It was marked with blundering and came to naught. In return, the Turks invaded the Transcaucasian provinces of Russia, and then began, under German direction, the extermination of the Armenian nation. The German atrocities in Belgium were emulated by the Turks and their Kurd levies, on a gigantic scale. Certainly several hundred thousand and probably nearly or quite a million non-combatant Armenians, men, women and children, were put to death with every refinement of cruelty — rape, mutilation, flaying, burning, drowning and starvation. At last the Russian Grand Duke Nicholas, the conqueror of Galicia, was put in command in the Caucasus, and in February, 1916, he swept into the Turkish Empire in Asia, capturing Erzeroum, BitHs, Trebizond and Erzingan. He was too late to save Armenia, but he was able to co-operate efficiently with a British army which was moving up Mesopotamia. THE BAGDAD CAMPAIGNS Twice the British essayed to reach Bagdad from the Persian Gulf. The first attempt was made in the fall of 1915, and the expedition was successful in penetrating to within less than twenty miles of the ancient city. It was animated with more valor than discretion, however, being too small and not sufficiently supported along its 11 161 THE WAR IN THE EAST lines of communication and supply at the rear. The result was that it had to fall back to Kut-el-Amara, where it was besieged for several months and at last was com- pelled by starvation to surrender, on April 28, 1916. The valor of the troops so impressed the Turks that they treated the prisoners with all possible consideration and courtesy, thus presenting a grateful contrast to the conduct of Germans toward those who were so luckless as to fall into their hands. The second British expedition up the Tigris and Euphrates valley was better planned and was more successful; having also the advantage of the co-operation of the Russians at the north. It captured Kut-el-Amara on February 26, 1917, and on March 11th occupied Bagdad, eighty miles further on. A junction was then effected with, the Russian forces moving down from Erzeroum. These operations, in conjunction with the British occupation of Southern Palestine, threatened to confine the Turkish sway in Asia to Asia Minor west of the Anti-Taurus Mountains. 162 Chapter XI COLONIAL CONQUESTS Origin and Extent of Germany's Colonial Empire — Her Ambition to Rival Great Britain — Dreams of a German South Africa — Loss of Sea Power Fatal to Her Outlying Possessions — Japan's Seizure of Kiao Chao — Australia and the German Islands — Other Groups in the Pacific — Togoland and the Kamerun Territory — The Boer-British Conquest of German South Africa "the Most Unkindest Cut of AH" — German East Africa the Last to Fall. I THE GERMAN Colonial Empire vanished. That was one of the first definite results of the war, and one of the most significant. The development of a world-wide colonial empire, rivaling that of Great Britain, had long been the dream and the ambition of the Kaiser and his lieutenants. The colonial policy had been devised and founded by Bismarck himself, just thirty years before this war undid it all, and it had been consistently and earnestly promoted by all his successors. At the outbreak of the war the German Colonial Empire existed in Africa, in Asia, in the Indies, and in Polynesia. It had a total land area nearly five times as great as that of Germany itself, and a popula- tion one-fifth as great. Most of the German colonies were in Africa, and it was the dream of Germany to dominate that continent, north, central and south. Togoland and the Kamerun territory were among her earliest possessions, and she planned to extend the latter so as to include most if not all of the Congo State. It was thus a part of her scheme in attacking Belgium at the beginning of this war to acquire, through the conquest of that little kingdom, the Congo State which belonged to it. The following were 163 COLONIAL CONQUESTS the various German possessions as enumerated in "The Statesman's Year Book," all of them being Crown Colonies, under the absolute rule of imperial governors : THE GERMAN COLONIES Date of Acquisition Estimated Area, Sq. Miles Estimated Population In Africa: Togoland Kamerun German Southwest Africa. German East Africa Total African possessions . In Asia: Kiauchau Bay In the Pacific: German New Guinea: Kaiser Wilhelm's Land . Bismarck Archipelago. . Caroline Islands Palau or Pelew Islands . Marianne Islands Solomon Islands Marshall Islands, etc. . . Samoan Islands: Savaii Upolu Total Pacific possessions. . . . Total Foreign dependencies. 1884 1884 1884-90 1885-90 1884-90 1897 1885-86 1885 1899 1899 1899 1886 1886 1899 1899 1884-99 1884-99 33,700 191,130 322,450 384,180 1,000,000 3,500,000 200,000 7,000,000 931,460 2001 70,000 20,000 560 250 4,200 150 660 340 11,700,000 30,0001 300,000 56,000 33,000 96,160 389,000 1,027,820 12,119,000 ' Exclusive of the Bay with an area of about 200 square miles, and the neutral zone with an area of about 2,500 square miles, and population of 1,200,000. AFRICAN AMBITIONS In North Africa she began intriguing for control of Morocco years ago, coveting its strategical position, com- 164 COLONIAL CONQUESTS manding one shore of the strait between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Her intrigues there led to the serious controversy with France which brought those countries near the verge of war and which was at last settled, very CAfisrofyi Possessions in Africa at the Outbreak of the War unsatisfactorily to Germany, at the Algeciras Conference of 1906. Indeed, it was probably his diplomatic defeat in that affair that determined the Kaiser to proceed with the world-war which he provoked eight years later. 165 COLONIAL CONQUESTS THE SOUTH AFEICAN DRAMA Most notable of all, however, was the empire-drama of South Africa. It was there, that the German Colonial Empire was founded, when in 1883-84 Prince Bismarck sent Frederick Luederitz to Angra Pequena to organize the colony of German Southwest Africa. It was a costly job, for it brought on the Hottentot war, which cost nearly $80,000,000 and the lives of several thou- sand Germans, while about 30,000 natives were ex- terminated. The next step was the acquisition of German East Africa, which extended inland to the boundary of the Congo and thus prevented any con- nection between British East Africa and British South Africa. When trouble began to brew in South Africa between the Boers and British, the German opportunity seemed to have come. The Kaiser sent his famous message of sympathy and encouragement to Paul Kruger, on the Jameson Raid, and tried to make the Boers feel that Germany was their friend, and that they had an ally on the spot in German Southwest Africa. Again when the Boer-British War came on, neutrality was grossly violated by the Germans in Southwest Africa in aid of the Boers, who were permitted to cross the frontier at will when pursued by the British, and then to return to the war. There were secret negotiations between the Boers and the Germans for a compact between them, to the effect that if the Boers succeeded in expelling the British from South Africa, all the colonies there should be put under German protection and be allied with the German colonies at the west and northeast of them, making prac- tically a great German empire occupying the whole of South Africa. 166 COLONIAL CONQUESTS THE SCHEME DEFEATED The leader of the Boers at that tirae, and the foremost advocate of that scheme, was Louis Botha, probably the ablest man the Boer race has ever produced. He was defeated in that war by Roberts and Kitchener, however, and he accepted the result loyally, and later became the Prime Minister of the British Union of South Africa. As soon as the present war was started, German agents approached him with plans for a revolution. He was to lead the revolution, throw off British government, and declare the union of the former British colonies with the German colonies, in a German South Africa extending from the Cape to the Congo. ; But Botha said. No. He had accepted the results of the Boer war in good faith, and had sworn allegiance to the British crown, and he meant to keep his word. A few of his former comrades were seduced by the German tempters, and a small insurrection was started. Louis Botha thereupon took the field against them and sup- pressed them. He then organized the Boers into an army and set forth to conquer German Southwest Africa for the British crown; and did it! There have been few more striking incidents in history than that, in which the very men who were expected by the Germans to betray British South Africa to Germany, instead conquered German Southwest Africa for Great Britain. OTHER AFRICAN COLONIES Togoland was easily taken by the British early in the war. The Kamerun territory fell later, British, French, Belgians and Portuguese participating in the campaign. German East Africa was the last to fall in that continent. The German half of New Guinea, Kaiser Wilhelm's 167 COLONIAL CONQUESTS Land and the Bismarck Archipelago, were promptly taken by Australia, near the shores of which they lie. Other islands scattered about the Pacific Ocean were seized by the British and by the Japanese. One of the first to be taken was Kiao-Chao, the German colony in the Province of Shan-Tung, China, which had been seized by the Kaiser's personal orders in 1897, and which was intended to be made the basis of a German partitioning of the Chinese Empire. Japan laid siege to the place and after a blockade lasting from August 27 to November 6, 1914, the Japanese troops, aided by a small British contingent, captured the place. In such fashion the German Colonial Empire was removed from the map of the world. ' ,.^-^ ^^ — "-^ — ' - ■'r^'''";^7j^ T ""^^ •^f^^ ^^SSJlKS^'^V. a i^^^^i-C t A ^^ ^^ ,- '\l ^ ..^r--^^- ^ ' ■ ■•y , n'l ^^=^^E 1 ) ^J_ji_J^^====»i=«y=»=«pit^ , (^_4^'^ \ f 1 "!: — ^^ /^s English fifilK / / BRITISH !\<^ .^^$t 9 , . , , ^ 1 '"P^ / BC.6IAN /^„,, ,^^,^,T,^^^^ i ^' jNuo i ^ ' ' "•" ^^.' ,, 'v: EuBOPEAN Interests in North Africa 16$ THE MKE TOfPEOO SW C0MR4NY AlulJKKN iSlBMAHINES Toji, tyjie of high speed ocean-going submarine; center, a submarine about to submerge; below, a mine-planting submarine. ^/'^^t >^,^. ■--iOCK,WSft •^■mm^'^ The Kiel Canal The keystone of Germany's naval defence, the canal joining the Baltic and the North Sea, was deepened lust in time for the beginning of the war. Chapter XII THE WAR AT SEA Great Britain's Sea Power Quickly Manifested — Her Fleet in Control of the Ocean — Disappearance of German Commerce from the High Seas — Many Vessels Interned in Neutral Ports — The German War Fleet Held Under Shelter at the Kiel Canal — Hundreds of Vessels of Millions of Tons Seized or Destroyed — Many Naval Vessels Also the Victims of War — Daring Raids of German Cruisers — Admiral Tirpitz and the PoHcy of Frightfulness — The Submarine Boat Campaign — Rules of International Law Disregarded — Destruction of American Vessels — The Tragedy of the Lusitania — The Battle off Jutland — Renewal of the Submarine Campaign — Enormous Destruction of Commerce, Including American, in the Weeks Before Our Declaration of War. THREE HUNDRED merchant vessels of about two- thirds of a million tons burden destroyed in seven weeks, six of them being American vessels. That was the record of the German U-boat campaign of frightfulness, immedi- ately before our declaration of war. That, however, was only a small part of the operations at sea during the great war, and a comparatively minor part; since great as were the losses to the commerce of the allies and of neutral nations, they were not sufficient to affect materially the carrying trade of the world, while they did not in the least degree affect the steel barrier of blockade which the allies maintained along the German coast. BRITISH SEA POWER At the very beginning of the war the sea power of Great Britain was triumphantly manifested. The German Emperor sneered at what he called that country's "con- 169 THE WAR AT SEA temptible little army," but he had a wholesome respect for its fleet and made no serious attempt to cope with it. His armies were mobilized and rushed irresistibly into France and Russia. But his mighty war fleet remained within the shelter of inland waters, chiefly at the Kiel Canal, while the mercantile marine of Germany, which had been the second largest in the world, disappeared utterly from the high seas. All vessels that could ran into home waters for safety. Many which were in American and other neutral waters remained there, interned for the duration of the war. Many were captured or destroyed by the navies of the allies. Meantime, despite many losses inflicted by a few daring German cruisers, the sea power of Great Britain enabled the commerce of the allies to continue substantially as in time of peace. THE COMMERCE OF THE NATIONS At the outbreak of the war the chief maritime nations had the following mercantile fleets: Nations. Vessels. Tonnage. British Empire 11,353 21,274,064 Germany 2,166 4,706,027 United States 2,589 3,522,913 Norway 2,174 2,529,188 France 1,539 2,285,728 Japan 1,155 1,826,029 Italy 1,177 1,736,545 Sweden 1,462 1,122,883 Russia 1,256 1,054,762 Holland 809 1,522,547 Austria-Hungary 433 1,018,210 Spain 642 899,204 Denmark 835 854,966 Belgium 105 181,687 170 THE WAR AT SEA These figures suggest how comparatively sHght was the loss to the British Empire of the nearly 2,000,000 tons of shipping destroyed during the war by the German U-boats and a few cruisers. It amounts to less than ten per cent of the whole; and in fact was nearly compensated for by the building and purchasing of new ships and the capture of German vessels. THE NAVIEB OF THE WORLD Statistics of the navies of the various powers cannot be given quite so completely as of the mercantile fleets, the tonnage being lacking. The following table gives, however, the numbers of ships of various classes in the navies of the chief eight powers just before the outbreak of the war. The numbers include those built and in commission and also those actually in process of construction. Under "Battleships" are included dreadnoughts, pre-dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts. The eight powers, the names of which are abbreviated in the table, are the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Germany, Austria- Hungary, and the United States. They are thus given, not in the order of their strength, but according to their grouping in the early part of the war; the first five being the allied powers, the next two the central empires, and the last being the then neutral United States: Vessels. U. K. Fr. Rus. It. Jap. Ger. A.-H. U. S. Battleships 72 31 15 14 19 41 16 36 Coast Defense 10 Battle Cruisers 10 0404700 Armored Cruisers . . 47 24 12 9 15 9 2 17 Light Cruisers 85 8 10 18 19 49 12 18 Destroyers 237 87 140 46 53 145 18 53 Torpedo Boats 106 153 25 95 33 80 85 33 Submarines 96 76 43 20 15 38 11 47 171 c" 2 a - en 3 ^ ^ 5. "^ c/: . p w «> w > S St H ^■< >- rv f" ^^ W 2B ■y. ro 3 « f^ C "'^ 0-2 p 5 CK '-' ^•^ ^b: a -^ > 3 QJ w -C3 a- THE WAR AT SEA MERCHANT VESSELS DESTROYED In the early part of the war enormous ravages were caused in both the mercantile and military fleets, chiefly by submarines and by cruisers. Several German cruisers for a long time evaded the pursuit of British ships, and cruised about the world destroying many British vessels. But by far the greater part of the destruction on both sides was done by submarines. The losses of the various coun- tries, belligerent and neutral, in the first seventeen months of the war, were as follows : No. of Countries. Vessels. Tonnage. British Empire 602 1,192,551 Germany. 65 161,888 Norway 77 103,023 France 54 125,978 Denmark 29 33,293 Sweden 35 32,667 Holland 21 36,843 Russia 31 34,193 Italy 25 60,217 Turkey 18 18,150 Belgium 6 12,211 Austria-Hungary 6 13,240 Spain 3 5,223 Japan 3 16,015 Greece.... 9 18,424 United States 7 14,087 Nearly half of the British ships were fishing smacks, trawlers and other small craft of from 100 to 300 tons. There were, however, fifty merchant steamers of more than 5,000 tons each. The German losses were at first chiefly inflicted by British cruisers which were ranging the seas in quest of the German raiders, but later they 173 THE WAR AT SEA were caused by submarines. The heavy losses of Norway were caused chiefly by mines in the North Sea. The American losses in that stage of the war were caused by mines, with the exception of one vessel, the William P. Frye, which was destroyed by a German cruiser under the pretence that she was carrying contraband. HEAVY NAVAL LOSSES The naval losses were heavy on both sides, and were pretty evenly balanced between Great Britain and Ger- many, down to the beginning of the year 1917. Only one important sea battle had been fought, and two or three minor engagements, and the losses were therefore inflicted chiefly by mines and torpedoes discharged by subma- rines. Down to the date named Great Britain lost 9 battleships; 3 battle cruisers, all of which were in the battle of Jutland; 12 armored cruisers; 7 light cruisers; 2 torpedo gunboats; 17 destroyers; 4 torpedo boats; 12 submarines; and 3 mine sweepers. During the same period Germany lost 4 battleships, all dreadnoughts and all in the battle of Jutland; 3 battle cruisers, of which two were in that same battle; 1 pre-dread- nought, also in that battle; 6 armored cruisers; 20 light cruisers; 1 unprotected cruiser; 4 gunboats; 13 (probably many more) destroyers; 1 mine-layer; and a large number of submarines. Thus the British lost 69 vessels of all types, and Germany lost 53, besides an unknown number of submarines and probably some more destroyers. The British vessels lost, omitting submarines, mine-sweepers, etc., aggregated 381,105 tons. The known German losses, omitting submarines and an unknown number of destroyers, aggregated 331,336 tons. The German losses were therefore nearly equal to 174' o23 !z; 5 ^ » '^ s P a> (T S P 7~ sr !^ ■-! H ::P 3 S ^o, S S. X ^3 3 3 Q a; 3:,r(- D-rt> H 3 (D 3 I 3p^i' ss,3i^ 3-3 0, z 0) -o III a Ci CC o3 ^ s O ^ & 03 ft c a 03 ZJ >i 03 X2 ft o ft w o -a G g OH ?5 3 •^ ft s o ^ THE WAR AT SEA submarines were destroying shipping at the rate of 13,000 tons a day, there was an increase of British imports to the extent of more than $18,000,000 and an increase of exports of nearlj^ $5,000,000. At the same time, however, there was a marked decrease in American commerce. In February, 1917, as compared with January, our exports decreased more than 22.3 per cent, and our imports more than 17.8 per cent; a result chargeable chiefly to the German U-boat campaign, which caused a temporary suspension of American shipping. NAVAL CONSTRUCTION The building of fighting ships has also proceeded during the war, apart from submarines, at a greater rate than the destruction of them. Omitting submarines, destroyers, etc., the following additions have been made to the British navy, of vessels of the dreadnought or "aU big gun" type, the years named being those of the completion of the ships: Year. 1914. 1914. 1915. 1915. 1915. 1915. 1915. 1916. 1916. 1916. 1917. 1917. 1917. 1917. Guns. Name. ^ Tons Queen Elizabeth 27,500 ' Warspite ,27,500 Barham 27,500 Valiant 27,500 Malaya 27,500 Royal Sovereign 25,750 Royal Oak 25,750 Ramillies 25,750 Resolution 25,750 Revenge 25,750^ One Ship 27,500 8 15-inch. Renown 25,750 Repulse 25,750 )■ 8 15-inch. . . 22.0 Resistance 26,750 ' 8 15-inch. '8 15-inch... ^ Knots. '25.0 25.0 ^25.0 25.0 25.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 25.0 181 THE WAR AT SEA The German shipbuilding programme is not as well known as that of Great Britain, but is believed to have been as follows: Year. Name. Tons. 1914. Grosser Kurfiirst . . . 25,388 1914. Markgraf 25,388 1914. Konig 25,388 1915. Kronprinz 25,388 1916. "T" 28,500 1916. Ersatz Worth 28,500 1917. Ersatz Friedrich III 28,500 Guna. > 10 12-inch. 8 15-inch. Knots. '22.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 Germany has also built four big battle cruisers, two of which were lost in the battle of Jutland, together with one older one. As she lost four battleships also in that engagement, it will be seen that her increase of naval strength during the war had been less than the British. For Germany has built seven and lost four battleships, a net gain of three, while Great Britain has built fourteen and lost nine, a net gain of five. 182 Copyright by Underwood and Underwood, A'. 1'. An American Fighting Machine The U. S. Battleship "Wyoming," making a "smoke curtain," behind which submarines or destroyers might launch an attack on the enemj'. Chapter XIII THE WAR IN THE AIR Literal Realization of the Poet's Dream of Two Generations Ago — Early Use of Balloons in War Time — For Observation in Our Civil War — Gambetta's Escape from Paris in 1870 — Aeroplanes Used in the Balkan War and by the Italians in TripoU — Extensive Emplo>Tnent of Various Kinds of Air Craft in the Great War — Captive Balloons for Observation — Aeroplanes for Scouting and Signaling — For Bombardment on Land and for Detecting Submarines at Sea — Aeroplanes Fighting in Mid-air Singly and in Squadrons — Zeppelins and Other Dirigible Balloons — Their Futile Efforts to Invade Great Britain — Universal Recognition of Air Craft as an Essential Arm of War on Land and Sea. THREE-QUARTERS of a century ago one of the world's greatest poets, in one of his loftiest flights of sheer imagina- tion, wrote that he — "... dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain'd a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm. With the standards of the people plunging thro' the thunder-storm; Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world." It was a dream, the world declared; regardless of the fact that while — 183 THE WAR IN THE AIR "Some dreams we have are nothing else but dreams, Unnatural, and full of contradictions; Yet others of our most romantic schemes Are something more than fictions." Three-quarters of a century; and now is the most graphic and most amazing feature of the bard's fancy fulfilled to the very letter; leaving us amid our wonderment to specu- late, pleasingly and hopefully, upon the possible fulfilment in equal measure of the remainder of the splendid vision. EARLY USE OF WAR BALLOONS Some use of balloons was indeed made in war at a very early date. Scarcely a dozen years after Montgolfier's invention there was formed in 1794 at Meudon, near Paris, an aeronautical institute for the purpose of training men to make military observations from balloons, and such observations were actually made, with valuable effect, at the battle of Fleurus, near Charleroi, in June, 1794. It is probable that those aerial observations materially contributed to the winning of that crowning victory of the French Revolutionary army over the Austrians. Balloons were also used for similar purposes in the Austro-Italian War in 1859, and during our own Civil War. In the Suakin campaign in March, 1885, observa- tion balloons were first used by the British army. These were all, of course, captive balloons, held fast with ropes, and served no other purpose than that of giving an extremely elevated point of view. The most important use of moving balloons was made at Paris in 1870-71, during the siege. It was in such a vehicle that Leon Gambetta left that city, to organize government outside its walls; and in such fashion millions of letters were sent out from the beleaguered capital before its surrender. 184 THE WAR IN THE AIR AEROPLANE DEVELOPMENT All this, however, was very far from anything like ''airy navies grappling in the central blue," and down to the beginning of the present century there was little thought, except among dreamers and inventors, of the practical use of air craft as fighting machines. It was supposed, however, that it might be possible to drop explosives and incendiary devices from balloons upon armies, camps and cities, and accordingly at the congress at The Hague Fi6;3 COMPABISON OF THE CURTISS TrIPLANE FlTING BoaT (Fig. 1) OF 133-FOOT Span, with the "America" (Fig. 2) OF 72-FOOT Span, and a Standard Hydro-aeroplane (Fig. 3), 35-poot Span. Fig. 4 i8 Side View op Fig. 1 in 1899 there was adopted a rule — to which, however, the United States and Great Britain alone of all the powers declined to subscribe — prohibiting such use of balloons for bombardment, for a period of five years from that date. At the same time, it may be added, a rule was adopted forbidding the use of poisonous or asphyxiating gases in warfare. The inventions and practical demonstrations of Langley and the Wright brothers in America presently revealed to the world the extraordinary possibilities of an entirely different type of air craft. This was the aeroplane; a true flying machine. It was heavier than air, containing 185 THE WAR IN THE AIR Wright Biplane no reservoir of buoyant gas, but depending for levitation upon the form of its wings or planes and upon the action of an engine-driven propeller. The development of the first crude models into air craft capable of soaring several miles above the earth and rushing through space at the rate of a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles an hour, with singular nicety and certainty of guidance and completeness of control, must be accounted one of the most remarkable achieve- ments of inventive science in human history. At the same time the balloon, or '^hghter than air" craft, was not abandoned, but more or less successful attempts were made to make it dirigible and self-propelling. Count Zeppehn, in Germany, was most successful in this direction, constructing vast ships, hundreds of feet in length, capable of carrying each a score or more of men with artillery and heavy stores of explosives, and of making well-directed voyages of hundreds of miles without descending. With such vessels it was hoped effectively to invade England. Wright Biplane (rear) AERIAL EQUIPMENT OF THE POWERS At the beginning of the war France easily led the world in aeroplanes. Her army had 1,200 such machines, besides 186 Reproduced by pei'iii :'/!!,, 1 Li I iidelphia Museums Tokens of Our Natural Resources Above, harvesting in the west; below, steam harvester and thresher. THE WAR IN THE AIR 26 dirigible balloons, of which 12 were nearly 400 feet in length. Germany had only 600 military aeroplanes, with 35 dirigible balloons of the Zeppehn and other types, many of them as much as 490 feet long. Russia had 800 aeroplanes and 16 small dirigibles; Great Britain 500 aeroplanes and 15 dirigibles; Austria 100 aeroplanes and 10 dirigibles; Belgium 40 aeroplanes and 2 dirigibles; and Serbia 40 aeroplanes. The chief powers immediately began the purchase and manufacture of air craft on an enormous scale, and inventors busied themselves with devising all sorts of improvements upon them for military purposes. In Germany both aeroplanes and gigantic dirigibles of the Zeppelin type were constructed, while the other powers gave their atten- tion almost exclusively to aeroplanes. The latter were made to carry one or tw^o men, and were armed with rifles and machine guns, for fighting other aeroplanes and also for attacking the huge Zeppehns after the fashion of torpedo boats attacking a dreadnought. They were used as adjuncts to the army, to observe the position and movements of the foe and to direct the artillery fire upon vulnerable points. They were also used in connection with the fleet, especially to spy out submarines and to give warning of their approach; a submarine forty feet below the surface being clearly visible from an aeroplane cruising overhead. In order to repel attacks by aeroplanes and dirigibles, and to destroy them, both land forces and vessels were equipped with guns specially designed for shooting high into the air, and these were often used with much effect, especially against the giant Zeppelins. THE WAR IN THE AIR As the war proceeded the number of air craft multiplied until the aeroplanes on each side along the western battle 187 THE WAR IN THE AIR ^ § S I S-i O fl t3 £ OJ K g a^ . o -a «._ 9»v',>9 >/fSi/»t r"*f»ir- tc'^l' CO S''^ c3 t-^ a> *-• gPiH . S 03 J-^ i I .a g no a o fe -p ^ c» ^ 188 c ;> ts •-»-. ■o CO ro r« D- T g ~ •-8 P :: CD I PS poo CO — ■ H o p" a fti ^ ° ffi 3 P H f*D >^ ^5- fC P fo O g^3 ^^ ^3 n 2 o-g p (3- O P H-ftlrtl ^^ ^ b: P o CO g- Zeppelin Device roB Deoppinq Bombs. An armored car is suspended by three cables from the Zeppelin airship to a distance of several thousand feet below the monster air-craft, which is concealed in the clouds above. (Sphere oopr.) THE WAR IN THE AIR front were to be counted by thousands. Many of the aviators did most of their work singly, in mid-air duels, and there were those who had records of having brought down twenty, thirty or more aeroplanes of the enemy. Some of the most daring and most efficient on the French side were American volunteers, who were indeed so nume- rous that an American squadron of aviators was formed. Much of the fighting was also done in squadrons, and there were days when from a single point on the battle front hundreds of aeroplanes were visible, soaring, circling, signaling and fighting. Of the immense value of these craft there was never a moment's doubt. THE FAILURE OF THE ZEPPELINS The gigantic Zeppehns, as the dirigible balloons were called after their inventor, were on the contrary a costly failure. So far as the most careful investigation can determine, not one of those vessels made a single raid with results at all commensurate with its cost, while almost every one that undertook an important exploit came to disaster and ruin. Some were wrecked in storms, some had trouble with their engines or gas tanks and exploded, but most of them were shot down by terrestrial artillery or by the swift and agile aeroplanes which whirled about them fike tiny kingbirds attacking crows. Many of them did fly over England, and by dropping explosive and incendiary bombs upon residential viUages destroyed some houses and churches and killed many non-combatant people, chiefly women and children. Some even raided parts of London and did a little damage there, though their chief effects were to afford exciting spectacles to the populace, and to exasperate the people into enlisting more numerously for mifitary service. In forty-four 189 THE WAR IN THE AIR raids they killed 431 persons. But scarcely one of them returned to Germany to tell the tale. Several were shot down, and plunged to English earth, blazing wrecks, while others were pursued, overtaken and destroyed at sea by the vengeful bird men of the British aeroplane service. FALSE TALES OF DESTRUCTION ' The only important achievements of the Zeppehns were performed in the imaginations of German officials and newspaper writers. There were some lurid tales of Airship Zeppelin III a a, engines; h, rudder; c c, dipping-planes; d d, propellers. destructive raids which had laid England under a reign of terror, every word of which was false. Thus on February 1, 1916, the German Naval Staff officially reported that airships had thrown bombs upon Liverpool and Birken- head with important results, including heavy explosions and great fires. The German Embassy at Washington added that a large number of bridges had been damaged so that they could not be used, several ships were damaged, docks, dry docks, engine works, boiler works and a powder factory were destroyed, and in all over two hundred houses were destroyed by bombs and fires. Now, says Mr. S. S. McClure, the well-known American publicist, who visited Liverpool shortly after that date, "As soon as I reached Liverpool I was eager to see for myself what had happened. I saw nothing, for nothing had happened. No Zeppelin had ever come near Liver- 190 » I»1U * 1 » . ^ 1. O"^ CD fD n P P §"1 ^>5' 2 p tfi CB is > C5 g-p O P p-p p cr O < m td o to OR "-^ ■^ 2 o 2 W K G-S- :^ g 5' > ^ o 3 s o >-! P o w rx> i-i &.a«*T Houpe Germany's Official Paid Advertisement Forewarning Americans Against Disaster; Map Showing Where It Took Place This advertisement was wired to forty American newspapers by Count von Bernstorff, German Ambassador at Washington. It was ordered inserted on the morning of the day the Lusitania sailed. to travel unmolested upon the high seas, and had said that it would hold to ''strict accountability" anyone who interfered with that right. Now the German Imperial Government, through its embassy at Washington, issued a proclamation to the people of the United States, by means of advertisements in the leading newspapers. In that 217 THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL proclamation it warned them that they would thus travel at peril of their lives, unless they complied with the commands of the German Government as to the routes which they should take, the time of their journeys, and the vessels on which they traveled. It practically told American citizens that if they wanted to travel in safety they must not trust to the protection of their own government, but must obey the directions and trust to the protection of Germany. In any other country of the civilized world the publication of so astounding an impertinence would probably have resulted in the instantaneous dismissal and expulsion of the Ambassador who had dared to utter it, if not also severance of relations with his government. But our government patiently endured the outrage, merely referring to its ''surprising irregularity" and saying that no such warning could be accepted as an excuse for or palHation of an unlaw- ful act. THE LUSITANIA There swiftly followed fulfilment of the German menace. On May 7, 1915, the British steamer Lusitania,an unarmed merchantman, bound on her regular voyage from New York to Liverpool, was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine. Of her passengers and crew numbering 1,959, no fewer than 1,198 were lost, including 124 Americans, a large proportion of them being women and children. This unparalleled atrocity, which was regarded with horror by all the rest of the world, was greeted with delirious outbursts of joy throughout Germany, and by the German and pro- German element in the United States. When the news of it reached New York, the walls of German restaurants, theatres and beer gardens literally quivered under the stress of the exultant cheers. In Germany the government 218 S 3 t-^ ^ S 3 CO (t) 2 P ffi O 3 tr B 3 v; o Courtesy of Josiph A. Steimnetz, Phila. Damage Caused by a Torpedo This photograph shows the bow of a steamer in drydock after being struck by a torpedo on the port side. The e_xplosion blew numerous fragments of wreckage through the plates on the starboard side. THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL issued medals commemorative of the event, on which was a grim representation of the slaughter of women and children. Our government patiently contented itself with a diplo- matic note, declaring it to be ''wise and desirable" that the American and German governments should ''come to a clear understanding as to the grave situation." There followed much diplomatic controversy. Germany at first insisted that the Lusitania was armed, and not merely for defense but for attack, so that she was in fact a ship of war. An agent of the German Government was produced, who swore that he had seen cannon placed aboard the ship. This was utterly false, and it was afterward admitted that the German agent had deliberately and purposely committed perjury. There were intimations that the German Govern- ment might be willing to pay an indemnity of so much a head for the Americans who had been murdered, but it would not disavow the crime; and in the end the contro- versy lapsed without result, and crime remained unatoned. OTHER VESSELS DESTROYED The Falaba, a British vessel, was destroyed by a German submarine on March 28, 1915, and one American hfe was lost. The Gushing, an American vessel, was on the same day attacked by a German aeroplane. The Gulflight, an American vessel, was destroyed on May 1st, with the loss of one American life. These all preceded the Lusitania. The attacks on the Gushing and Gulflight were explained by Germany as "mistakes," and an offer was made of such reparation as the facts in the case might warrant. Similar disposition was made of the case of the American steamer Nebraskan, which was attacked by a submarine on May 25th; of the Leelanaw, an American ship, which was destroyed on July 27th; and of the English steamer Orduna, on July 9th. 219 THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL The British steamer Arabic, with a number of Americans aboard, was sunk by a submarine on August 19th, and an attempt was made to excuse the act on the lying pretense that the Arabic had attacked the submarine. But on October 5th Germany disavowed the act, offered to pay indemnities for the American Hves lost, and stated that strict orders had been given which would prevent any more such occurrences. This was received by our government with expressions of gratification. In January, 1916, the United States proposed to the allied belligerents a set of rules for the regulation of naval warfare, providing that no merchant vessel should be armed; that no vessel should be attacked without warning or without being ordered to stop and be searched; and that all should thus submit to search. The powers declined, however, to accept these rules on the mere strength of a non-guaranteed German promise that if they complied with them the German atrocities would cease. THE CASE OF THE SUSSEX The British passenger steamer Sussex was sunk by a submarine in the Enghsh Channel on March 24, 1916, with several Americans among its company. The German Government at first tried to pretend that the Sussex was mistaken for a mine-layer, and then that she had been sunk by a British mine. Our government promptly proved, how- ever, that she was an unarmed passenger vessel; that she had been sunk without warning, by a German torpedo; and that eighty of her passengers, non-combatants, including many women and children, and including several American citizens, had perished. In its note to Germany on the case the American Government said: "It has become painfuUy evident that the use of sub- 220 THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL marines for the destruction of an enemy's commerce is of necessity because of the very character of the vessels employed and the very methods of attack which their employment of course involves, utterly incompatible with the principles of humanity, the long-estabhshed and incon- trovertible rights of neutrals, and the sacred immunities of non-combatants. . . ," and threatened to sever diplomatic relations. In response the German Government declared that it could not dispense with the use of submarines, but that it would make certain concessions to the rights of neutrals and modifications of the under-sea warfare which it beheved would be satisfactory to the United States. This assurance was accepted by the United States and the matter was considered settled. THE BREACH OF RELATIONS There followed some futile correspondence between this country and the powers on both sides concerning peace, and then, at the end of January, 1917, came the beginning of the end. On January 31st the German Ambassador at Washington handed to the American Secretary of State a note withdrawing the pledges which had been made in settlement of the Sussex case, to the effect that merchant ships should be warned before being sunk and that neutral lives and property should be protected. It was official notice that the war zone around the British Isles was to be still further extended and that a most ruthless campaign of destruction was to be waged against all vessels entering it. It was condescendingly stated that one American ship a week would be permitted to visit a certain English port, provided that it would comply with various fantastic German requirements. 221 THE TRIBULATIONS OF A NEUTRAL This exhausted the patience of the American Government. On February 3d President Wilson directed that passports be given to the German Ambassador and that the American Ambassador be recalled from Berlin, thus severing diplo- matic relations between the two countries. This, as the President made clear in a convincing address to Congress, was in fulfilment of the warning which had been given, as hitherto quoted, in the Sussex case. A few days later Germany, through Switzerland as an intermediary, sought to parley over the matter, but the President declined to receive the overtures which were offered. ARMED NEUTRALITY The next step was that of armed neutrality. We were not at war with Germany, and it was still hoped by some that we should be able to avoid war. But Germany was putting into effect her threats of a resumption and intensifi- cation of the submarine campaign, and had sunk not only many British vessels but also two American vessels, the Housatonic and the Lyman M. Law. Accordingly on February 26th the President asked Congress for permission to supply defensive arms to merchant ships at his discretion. The German press, by permission of the imperial censor and thus presumably with the approval of the Imperial Government, printed conspicuous articles, declaring that the submarines would thereafter destroy all vessels found within the war zone, regardless of their character or nationality. In fulfilment of that threat the armed American merchant steamer Aztec was attacked and sunk. This was on April 1st, off the French coast, near Brest. Eleven of the crew were reported lost. The next day, April 2d, the President asked Congress to declare war. 222 Chapter XVII FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE Germany's Cynical Overtures — Their Rejection by the Allied Powers — Their Purposes Disclosed — President Wilson's Peace Note — His Conception of the Objects of the Belligerents — The Interests of the United States Involved — Seeking Acceptable Terms — Equivocal Acceptance by Germany — Rejection by the Allies — The President's Peace Message to the Senate — Proposing the Principles of the Monroe Doctrine for All the World. WE TRIED peace first. That fact must be remembered, and it will be weU to turn back a moment and recall the various overtures which were made for peace only a little while before Germany forced America into this monstrous war. Germany and her allies themselves suggested peace, in characteristic fashion. On December 12, 1916, they issued an identic note to the United States and other neutral powers, for transmission to the opposing belligerents, proposing a peace conference. They said: "The four allied powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey) have been obliged to take up arms to defend justice and the liberty of national evolution. . . . The spiritual and material progress which were the pride of Europe are threatened with ruin. ... If, in spite of this offer of peace and reconciliation, the struggle should go on, the four allied powers are resolved to con- tinue to a victorious end, but they disclaim responsibility for this before humanity and history." REJECTED BY THE ALLIES This cynically insincere proposal, with its unblushing perversions of truth, was emphatically rejected by the Allies on December 30th. In their note of reply they said: 223 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE "The putting forward by the Imperial Government of a sham proposal lacking all substance and precision would appear to be less an offer of peace than a war manoeuvre. It is founded on calculated misinterpretation of the character of the struggle in the past, the present, and the future. '^ "As for the past, the German note takes no account of the facts, dates, and figures, which establish that the war was desired, provoked, and declared by Germany and Austria-Hungary. "At The Hague Conference it was a German delegate who refused all proposals for disarmament. In July, 1914, it was Austria-Hungary, who, after having addressed to Serbia an unprecedented ultimatum, declared war upon her in spite of the satisfaction which had at once been accorded. "The Central Empires then rejected all attempts made by the Entente to bring about a pacific solution of a purely local conflict. Great Britain suggested a conference; France proposed an international commission; the Emperor to go to arbitration, and Russia and Austria-Hungary came to an understanding on the eve of the conflict. But to all these efforts Germany gave neither answer nor effect. "Belgium was invaded by an empire which had guaranteed her neutrahty and which had the assurance to proclaim that treaties were 'scraps of paper,' and that 'necessity knows no law.' . . . PURPOSE OF THE OVERTURES "In reahty these overtures made by the Central Powers are nothing more than a calculated attempt to influence the future course of war and to end it by imposing a German peace. The object of these overtures is to create dissen- sion in public opinion in the allied countries. But that 224 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE public opinion has, in spite of all the sacrifices endured by the Allies, already given its answer with admirable firm- ness, and has denounced the empty pretense of the declaration of the enemy powers. . . . ''Finally, these overtures attempt to justify in advance in the eyes of the world a new series of crimes — submarine warfare, deportations, forced labor and forced enlistment of the inhabitants against their own countries, and violations of neutrality. "Fully conscious of the gravity of this moment, but equally conscious of its requirements, the allied govern- ments, closely united to one another and in perfect sym- pathy with their peoples, refuse to consider a proposal which is empty and insincere. "Once again the Allies declare that no peace is possible so long as they have not secured reparation for violated rights and Uberties, the recognition of the principle of nationality and of the free existence of small states, so long as they have not brought about a settlement cal- culated to end once and for all forces which have con- stituted a perpetual menace to the nations, and to afford the only effective guarantee for the future security of the world. ..." PRESIDENT Wilson's peace note At the very time when that German note was issued, President Wilson, in entire ignorance of it, had in prepara- tion a note addressed to all the belligerent powers, inviting them to make an exchange of declarations of purposes and of terms on which peace would be acceptable. This was issued by him on December 18th, with a brief explana- tion that it had absolutely no connection whatever with the German note which had been issued a few days before. 16 225 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE This note, signed by the Secretary of State, ran in part as follows: "The President suggests that an early occasion be sought to call out from all the nations now at war such an avowal of their respective views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded, and the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a guaranty against its renewal or the kindling of any similar conflict in the future as would make it possible frankly to compare them. He is indifferent as to the means taken to accomphsh this. He would be happy himself to serve, or even to take the initiative in its accomplishment, in any way that might prove acceptable, but he has no desire to determine the method or the instru- mentality. One way will be as acceptable to him as another, if only the great object he has in mind be attained. OBJECTS OF THE BELLIGERENTS "He takes the liberty of calling attention to the fact that the objects, which the statesmen of the belligerents on both sides have in mind in this war, are virtually the same, as stated in general terms to their own people and to the world. Each side desires to make the rights and privileges of weak peoples and small states as seciu-e against aggression or denial in the future as the rights and privileges of the great and powerful states now at war. Each wishes itself to be made secure in the future, along with all other nations and peoples, against the recurrence of wars Hke this and against aggression or selfish inter- ference of any kind. Each would be jealous of the forma- tion of any more rival leagues to preserve an uncertain balance of power amid multiplying suspicions; but each is ready to consider the formation of a league of nations to insure peace and justice throughout the world. 226 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES ''In the measures to be taken to secure the future peace of the world the people and Government of the United States are as vitally and as directly interested as the governments now at war. Their interest, moreover, in the means to be adopted to relieve the smaller and weaker peoples of the world of the peril of wrong and violence, is as quick and ardent as that of any other people or govern- ment. They stand ready, and even eager, to co-operate in the accompHshment of these ends, when the war is over, with every influence and resource at their command. But the war must first be concluded. The terms upon which it is to be concluded they are not at hberty to suggest ; but the President does feel that it is his right and his duty to point out their intimate interest in its conclusions, lest it should presently be too late to accomplish the greater things which lie beyond its conclusion, lest the situation of neutral nations, now exceedingly hard to endure, be rendered altogether intolerable, and lest, more than all, an injury be done civilization itseK which can never be atoned for or repaired. "The President therefore feels altogether justified in suggesting an immediate opportunity^ for a comparison of views as to the terms which must precede those ultimate arrangements for the peace of the world, which all desire and in which the neutral nations as well as those at war are ready to play their full responsible part. DEFINITE TERMS SOUGHT ''The leaders of the several belligerents have, as has been said, stated those objects in general terms. But, stated in general terms, they seem the same on both sides. Never yet have the authoritative spokesmen of either 227 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE side avowed the precise objects which would, if attained, satisfy them and their people that the war had been fought out. The world has been left to conjecture what definitive results, what actual exchange of guaranties, what political or territorial changes or readjustments, what stage of military success, even, would bring the war to an end. PIOUS ASPIRATIONS "It may be that peace is nearer than we know; that the terms which the belligerents on the one side and on the other would deem it necessary to insist upon are not so irreconcilable as some have feared; that an interchange of views would clear the way at least for conference and make the permanent concord of the nations a hope of the immediate future, a concert of nations immediately practicable. '^The President is not proposing peace; he is not even offering mediation. He is merely proposing that soundings be taken in order that we may learn, the neutral nations with the belligerent, how near the haven of peace may be for which all mankind longs with an intense and increas- ing longing. He believes that the spirit in which he speaks and the objects which he seeks wiU be understood by all concerned, and he confidently hopes for a response which will bring a new Hght into the affairs of the world." Germany's equivocal acceptance Germany and her allies promptly replied to the Presi- dent's note with an apparent acceptance, so framed as to make it tantamount to a confirmation of the German proposals of December 12th. They made it clear that they would enter into the conference only on the basis which they had themselves already prescribed, and that 228 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE they would not consider in the peace negotiations any measures for the prevention of further wars of the same kind. The German note ran thus: "The high-minded suggestion made by the President of the United States of America in order to create a basis for the estabhshment of a lasting peace has been received and considered by the Imperial Government in the friendly spirit which was expressed in the President's communi- cation. ''The President points out that which he has at heart and leaves open the choice of road. To the Imperial Government an immediate exchange of views seems to be the most appropriate road in order to reach the desired result. It begs, therefore, in the sense of the declaration made on December 12th, which offered a hand for peace negotiations, to propose an immediate meeting of dele- gates of the belligerent states at a neutral place. ''The Imperial Government is also of the opinion that the great work of preventing future wars can be begun only after the end of the present struggle of the nations. It will, when this moment shall have come, be ready with pleasure to collaborate entirely with the United States in this exalted task.'* AN UNEQUIVOCAL REFUSAL The reply of the Allies was made on January 10th, and was much more elaborate and detailed than that of Germany. It expressed cordial appreciation of and sym- pathy with the benevolent motives of the American Govern- ment, but protested strongly against the assimilation established in the American note between the two groups of belligerents. It referred to the note of the Allies in response to the German peace note as a response also to 229 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE the President's inquiry concerning the terms of peace which would be satisfactory, and then continued: ''President Wilson desires . . . that the belligerent powers openly affirm the objects which they seek by con- tinuing the war; the Allies experience no difficulty in replying to this request. Their objects in the war are well known* they have been formulated on many occa- sions by the chiefs of their divers governments. Their objects in the war will not be made known in detail with all the equitable compensations and indemnities for damages suffered until the hour of negotiations. But the civilized world knows that they imply in all necessity and in the first instance the restoration of Belgium, of Serbia, and of Montenegro and the indemnities which are due them; the evacuation of the invaded territories of France, of Russia and of Roumania with just reparation; the reorgan- ization of Europe guaranteed by a stable regime and founded as much upon respect of nationalities and full security and Hberty of economic development, which all nations, great or small, possess, as upon territorial conventions and international agreements suitable to guarantee territorial and maritime frontiers against unjustified attacks; the restitution of provinces or territories wrested in the past from the Allies by force or against the will of their popula- tions; the liberation of Italians, of Slavs, of Roumanians and of Tcheco Slovaques from foreign domination; the enfranchisement of populations subject to the bloody tyranny of the Turks; the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman Empire. The intentions of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia regarding Poland have been clearly indicated in the proclamation which he has just addressed to his armies. It goes without saying that if the Allies wish to liberate Europe from the brutal covetousness of 230 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE Prussian militarism, it never has been their design, as has been alleged, to encompass the extermination of the German peoples and their political disappearance. That which they desire above all is to insure a peace upon the principles of hberty and justice, upon the inviolable fidelity to inter- national obligation with which the Government of the United States has never ceased to be inspired. "United in the pursuits of this supreme object the Allies are determined, individually and collectively, to act with all their power and to consent to all sacrifices to bring to a victorious close a conflict upon which they are convinced not only their own safety and prosperity depends but also the future of civilization itself." THE president's PEACE MESSAGE Following this, on January 22, 1917, President Wilson addressed the United States Senate on the subject, not with a request for action but in explanation of his policy, and thus ended the discussion of peace, which was already obviously futile. In his address he reviewed the notes of the belligerents, insisted that when peace was finally made the United States must have a part in the work, and indicated what must be the general tenor of the peace terms to be satisfactory to this country; saying in conclusion: "In holding out the expectation that the people and the Government of the United States will join the other civihzed nations of the world in guaranteeing the perma- nence of peace upon such terms as I have named, I speak with the greater boldness and confidence because it is clear to every man who can think that there is in this promise no breach in either our traditions or our policy as a nation, but a fulfillment rather of all that we have professed or striven for. 231 FUTILE EFFORTS FOR PEACE A MONROE DOCTRINE FOR ALL NATIONS "I am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of President Monroe as the doctrine of the world: That no nation should seek to extend its policy over any other nation or people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own policy, its own way of development, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. "I am proposing that all nations henceforth avoid entangling alliances which would draw them into competi- tion of power, catch them in a net of intrigue and selfish rivalry, and disturb their own affairs with influences intruded from without. There is no entangling alliance in a concert of power. When all unite to act in the same sense and with the same purpose, all act in the common interest and are free to live their own lives under a common pro- tection. "I am proposing government by the consent of the governed; that freedom of the seas which in international conference after conference representatives of the United States have urged with the eloquence of those who are the convinced disciples of hberty; and that moderation of armaments which makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not an instrument of aggression or of selfish violence. "These are American principles, American policies. We can stand for no others. And they are also the principles and policies of forward-looking men and women everywhere, of every modern nation, of every enlightened community. They are the principles of mankind and must prevail," 232 Chapter XVIII AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT Our Tardy Entrance Into the World War — Our Declaration the Thirty- sixth in Less than Thirty-three Months — How It Was Made and How Others Had Been Made — Our Lack of Readiness — Neglect of the Policy of Washington and Jefferson — The Evil Results of Our Unpreparedness in Former Wars — The Disgrace of the War of 1812 — Lessons Which We Refused to Learn — State of Our Forces on Land and Sea When War with Germany Was Declared — Vigorous Endeavors of Government and People to Atone for Years of Neglect and Folly — The Opposition of So-called Pacifists — Different Sentiments of Different Sections of the Country — Slowness in Realizing the Actual Situation and Its Needs — Final Uprising of the Nation. AMERICA'S entrance into the War of the Nations was tardy and dehberate. We have seen how numerous, persistent and extreme had been her provocations, during more than two and a half years. Yet she waited until nearly every great nation in the Eastern Hemisphere was involved, and indeed until some of her neighbors in this hemisphere were beginning to consider participation in it. Our declaration of war with Germany, made on April 6, 1917, was the thirty-sixth that had been made in this war since Austria's breach with Serbia on July 28, 1914 — a period of less than thirty-three months. It will be interesting, as a matter of reference and record, to recapitulate the various declarations which had been made; bearing in mind that in some cases nations against which war was declared did not respond with counter-declarations. For example, Germany declared war against France on August 3, 1914; but France has never yet made any declaration against Germany. Her 233 AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT only answer to the German declaration was, to fight. The following is a list of the various declarations down to and including our own: 1914 July Aug. 28 — Austria on Serbia. 1 — Germany on Russia. 3 — Germany on France. 3 — Germany on Belgium. 4 — Great Britain on Germany. 5 — Austria-Hungary on Russia. 8 — Montenegro on Austria. 9 — Austria on Montenegro. 9 — Serbia on Germany. May 22 — Italy on Austria. " 22— Italy on Turkey. June 3 — San Marino on Austria. Oct. 14 — Serbia on Bulgaria. Aug. 11 — France on Austria-Hungary. " 11 — Montenegro on Germany. " 12 — Great Britain on Austria. " 23 — Japan on Germany. " 25 — Austria on Japan. " 29 — Austria on Belgium. Nov. 2 — Russia on Turkey. " 5 — Great Britain on Turkey. " 5 — France on Turkey. 1915 Oct. 15 — Great Britain on Bulgaria. " 16 — France on Bulgaria. " 19 — Italy on Bulgaria. " 19 — Russia on Bulgaria. 1916 Mar. 8 — Germany on Portugal. " 10 — Portugal on Germany. " 15 — Austria on Portugal. Aug. 27 — Roumania on Austria. " 28 — Austria-Hungary on Roumania. Aug. 28 — Bulgaria on Roumania. 28 — Turkey on Roumania. 28 — Germany on Roumania. 28 — Italy on Germany. 1917 Apr. 6 — United States on Germany. FORMS OF DECLARATIONS OF WAP In finally making our declaration of war against Germany, we might well have adopted the words of Shakespeare and said, ''Stand not upon the order of declaring, but declare." There was much discussion and there were many differences of opinion as to the order, or the form; whether we should ''declare war" or should merely declare that "a state of war existed." There was thought to be much and important difference between the two, as though the former would impose far more responsibility upon 234 AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT us than the latter. The former seemed to be looked upon as an announcement that we should begin war against Germany, while the latter was merely a recognition of the fact that Germany had begun to wage war against us. The fact is, however, that between the two there was and is scarcely as much as between tweedledum and tweedledee. The two phrases are" practically synonymous. To declare does not mean to wage war or to announce an intention of doing so. It means nothing more than to state, to announce, to publish, to make clear, an already existing fact. Our phrase, as finally adopted by Congress, was that a state of war ''is hereby declared." That did not mean at all that we purposed to create a state of war. It meant that we recognize the fact that one already existed, and the preceding context made it abundantly clear that it was Germany that created that state of war and thrust it upon us; which was, of course, precisely correct and the very thing that we ought to have said. The uncer- tainty and difference of opinion beforehand, and the mis- interpretation which some have since put upon the act, simply show how much misapprehension of the meaning of the phrase there is among intelligent men. To have made it read ''is hereby declared to exist," as some have been saying should have been done, would not have changed the meaning one iota. The added words would have been simply superfluous. UNREADY FOR WAR Seldom, if ever, has any nation made a declaration of war in a greater state of unreadiness for war than the United States was in when it finally joined issues with Germany. For more than a century the policy of Wash- 235 AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT ington and Jefferson, the traditional policy of this nation, had been neglected and ignored. For several years there had been much discussion and agitation of the matter, but little had been done. The nation was bewitched by the siren song of pacifism into believing, first, that there was no danger of our ever getting into war with a great power, and second, that if we did we should show ourselves able to "lick all creation." Our army, unsurpassed in character, was a mere handful in size. Our organized mihtia, also pitifully small in numbers, was disorganized and demoralized by the fatuous manner in which it had been mismanaged in our campaign against Mexico. Our navy, superb as its units were, was lacking in submarines and battle cruisers, and was so undermanned that half the battleships were laid up for lack of crews. We had scarcely any aviation service, and our supplies of artillery, rifles and ammunition were wofully inadequate. THE COST OF UNPREPAREDNESS In all this we were blind to the lessons of history. Wash- ington in the Revolution dwelt frequently and bitterly upon the murderous folly of arraying raw recruits against trained soldiers, and urged thorough training and universal service. In the War of 1812 we had been unprepared and had trusted to green militia, with the result that our land forces were usually beaten and our national capital was abandoned to the foe. In the Civil War it took us two years to get ready to fight. In the Spanish War our unpre- paredness and the mismanagement of our camps and commissary formed a national scandal. Yet we ignored these lessons of history, and for more than two years faced a world in flames of war, with a gi^owing assurance that 236 > re o p 5. o p £-b S3 W o o ? 5- re •jal ^ i-t, p— ' " o re 2? ore P t- 2 ^ 9. W United States Infantry Tools Bombs to be Dropped from Aircraft AMERICA AS A BELLIGERENT we ourselves would be involved in it, without making any real preparations to meet the tremendous crisis. EFFORTS AT PREPARATION The moment war was declared, however, Congress began with frantic haste to atone so far as possible for the delay. Vast sums were voted for expansion and equipment of the army and navy, and a large increase of forces was authorized. A small band of pacifists opposed these measures, but their opposition was speedily overridden. At first public sentiment on the subject was supposed to vary greatly in different parts of the country, the Middle West being least disposed toward war, and some states, in which German residents were numerous, being reputedly strongly opposed to it. Day by day, however, brought the nation into harmony, until all sections were rallying to the support of the government. The authorized increase of the army and navy was at first sought through the familiar system of volunteer enlistment. But this dragged, and it became evident that more strenuous methods must be employed. The President finally declared himself in favor of compulsory service, through a system of selective conscription, and a bill to that effect was introduced into Congress. Oppo- sition to it was noisy but otherwise feeble, and at the middle of May the necessary legislation was enacted. The nation was awake and rising to meet the crisis. 237 Chapter XIX OUR RESOURCES: ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL Our Population and Wealth, and Production of Bread and Iron, Compared with the Other Great Powers — Our Financial Resources — Size of the Army and Navy Before the War — The Organized MiUtia — Submarines and Airships Amer- ican Inventions — Agricultural Resources and How They Might be Quadrupled — Our Commercial Marine — Deplorable Lack of Ocean-going Tonnage — Compar- isons with Other Countries — Urgent Need of an Increase of the Mercantile Marine. VAST ARE the resources of America. At the time of her entry into the war, thirteen other nations were already involved in it. They included the six so-called Great Powers of Europe. But save for the population of two of them, the United States decisively outranked them all in the chief elements of material greatness. Apart from population the three chief elements of greatness are wealth, wheat and iron. The first means the aggregate wealth of the real and personal property of all the people of the nation. In that particular, the United States surpasses any two other nations in the world, put together. The second, wheat, is the most important article of food in civilized lands, and the production of it is an essential factor in the nation's economic independence. The third, iron, is the most important of all the metals, and the production of it is a gauge of the nation's industrial potency. The following tables show, in round numbers, the popu- lation and wealth, and the wheat and iron production, of the chief belligerents, according to the latest available statistics : 238 OUR RESOURCES Countries. Population. Wealth. United States 103,287,000 $230,000,000,000 British Empire 438,000,000 130,000,000,000 Russian Empire 175,000,000 60,000,000,000 France (omitting colonies) . . 40,000,000 65,000,000,000 Italy (omitting colonies) . . . 36,000,000 35,000,000,000 Germany 68,000,000 80,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 53,000,000 45,000,000,000 Countries. Wheat, Bushels. Iron, Tons. United States 1,000,000,000 36,500,000 British Empire 813,250,000 18,000,000 Russia 840,000,000 4,150,000 France 258,000,000 3,500,000 Italy 170,500,000 380,000 Germany 160,000,000 14,160,000 Austria-Hungary 212,900,000 1,500,000 AMERICAN FINANCIAL RESOURCES The financial ability of the United States to pay the expenses of the war for itself, and to assist its allies, may be estimated from the following statistics: Annual national income $50,000,000,000 Total bank resources 35,000,000,000 Individual deposits 24,000,000,000 Cash held by the banks 2,500,000,000 Total gold stock in the country 3,000,000,000 Available additional commercial credits on basis of present cash holdings 6,000,000,000 It is estimated that the borrowing power of the American Government is not less than $40,000,000,000, from domestic sources, without seriously disturbing the ordinary financial and economical affairs of the nation. 239 OUR RESOURCES THE ARMY AND NAVY The figures already given of population and wealth suggest the colossal potency of the United States in war. But at the outbreak of the present war that potency was undeveloped, and the actual army and navy strength of the nation was small. The following table indicates the actual strength of the army estabhshment at the end of the last fiscal year, June 30, 1916: Organizationa. Officers. Men. General Officers 24 General Staff Corps 32 Adjutant General's Department 23 Inspector General's Department 17 Judge Advocate General's Department — 13 Quartermaster Corps 258 5,492 Medical Corps 443 4,670 Medical Reserve Corps 154 .... Dental Surgeons 38 .... Corps of Engineers 228 1,826 Ordnance Department 83 740 Signal Corps 71 1,472 Bureau of Insular Affairs 3 .... Chaplains 64 .... Professors 7 .... Total 1,458 14,200 Cavalry, 15 regiments, etc 782 15,160 Artillery, 6 regiments, etc 257 5,627 Infantry, 31 regiments, etc 1,607 34,313 West Point detachments 603 Indian Scouts 39 Casuals and recruits at depots and en route .... 8,798 Total 9,440 Total, Regular Army 4,843 97,013 Philippine Scouts 182 5,603 Grand total 5,025 102,616 240 Before — and A gr'oiiii of young men when they enlisted in the Navy. They show lack of trim- ness, carriage and determination. Photographs by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. After Enlisting Ten days later the same young men look remarkably different. They now carry themselves like true representatives of the Navy. BI g-^*^^ OUR RESOURCES THE NAVY The actual strength of the navy in October, 1916, was 3,761 officers and 54,214 men, a total of 57,975. In the Marine Corps there were 410 officers and 11,044 men, a total of 11,454. According to the United States ''Navy Year Book" for 1916, there were at its date of publication the following vessels in the navy listed as fit for service: Type. No. Displacement. Dreadnoughts 12 307,450 Predreadnoughts 25 340,146 Armored cruisers 10 140,080 Cruisers, first class 5 46,465 Cruisers, second class 4 25,065 Cruisers, third class 16 50,820 Monitors 7 24,964 Destroyers 49 43,585 Coast torpedo vessels 16 6,695 Torpedo boats 17 3,146 Submarines 42 15,722 Tenders 8 31,927 Gunboats 28 25,967 Transports 4 22,235 Supply ships 4 25,400 Hospital ship 1 5,700 Fuel ships 21 253,900 Naval yachts 14 8,957 Tugs 47 19,568 Special types 8 45,954 Total 338 1,444,746 ADDITIONS TO BE MADE The following vessels were listed as under construc- tion: 16 241 OUR RESOURCES Type. No. Displacement. Dreadnoughts 5 160,600 Destroyers 9 9,911 Submarines 33 21,093 Gunboat 1 1,575 Transport 1 10,000 Supply ship 1 8,500 Hospital ship 1 9,800 Fuel ships 2 29,000 Tugs 2 1,150 Total 55 251,269 And these were provided for and contracted for: Type. No. Displacement. Dreadnoughts 4 130,400 Battle cruisers 4 137,200 Second-class cruisers 4 28,400 Destroyers 20 23,700 Submarines 30 22,590 Special type 1 10,600 Total 63 354,800 THE NAVY IN PROSPECT There was thus in being and in assured prospect for the immediate future the following naval force: Type. No. Displacement. Dreadnoughts 21 598,450 Predreadnoughts 25 340,146 Battle cruisers 4 139,200 Armored cruisers 10 140,080 Cruisers, first class 5 46,465 Cruisers, second class 8 63,465 Cruisers, third class 16 60,820 Monitors 7 24,964 242 OUR RESOURCES Type. No. Displacement. Destroyers 78 77,196 Coast destroyers 16 6,695 Torpedo boats 17 3,146 Submarines 105 54,455 Tenders 8 31,927 Gunboats 29 27,512 Transports 5 32,225 Supply ships 5 33,000 Hospital ships 2 15,500 Fuel ships 23 282,230 Naval yachts 14 8,957 Tugs 49 20,718 Special type 9 56,504 Total 456 2,050,265 THE ORGANIZED MILITIA The organized militia, commonly known as the National Guard, was of the following strength in 1916: States. Officers. Men. Alabama 166 2,391 Arizona 54 866 Arkansas 81 834 California 245 3,218 Colorado 58 770 Connecticut 227 3,476 Delaware 35 426 District of Columbia 94 1,741 Florida 85 1,181 Georgia 225 2,859 Hawaii 93 2,548 Idaho 63 901 Illinois 500 6,099 Indiana 150 2,411 Iowa 218 3,182 243 OUR RESOURCES states. Officers. Men. Kansas 127 1,925 Kentucky 170 2,252 Louisiana 63 1,119 Maine Ill 1,428 Maryland 168 2,024 Massachusetts 418 6,600 Michigan 220 3,430 Minnesota 210 2,889 Mississippi 71 1,085 Missouri 207 3,746 Montana 50 734 Nebraska 110 1,507 Nevada New Hampshire 83 1,175 New Jersey 301 4,021 New Mexico 67 867 New York 1,014 15,309 North Carolina 208 2,846 North Dakota 55 735 Ohio 492 5,916 Oklahoma ,. 70 966 Oregon 96 1,595 Pennsylvania 701 9,450 Rhode Island 90 1,527 South Carolina 102 1,424 South Dakota 65 857 Tennessee 113 1,634 Texas 185 2,720 Utah 32 546 Vermont 76 878 Virginia 197 2,808 Washington 90 1,358 West Virginia 106 1,505 Wisconsin 192 3,247 Wyoming 35 579 Total 8,589 123,605 244 OUR RESOURCES SUBMARINES AND AIRSHIPS Our military services were insufficiently supplied with submarine boats and with aeroplanes; which was an irony of fate, seeing that both those devices were chiefly of American origin. The submarine dates back to Robert Fulton, who years before he initiated steam navigation with the Clermont made successful trips under the waters of the British Channel in a hand-propelled submarine. For many years his achievements in that direction were all but forgotten. But the general idea was taken up in our own time by two other Americans, Simon Lake and John P. Holland, and from their inventive genius proceeded the development of the submarine fleets which have so largely transformed the naval warfare of the world. So, too, Langley and the Wright brothers, Americans, were pioneers in the development of aeroplanes, or ''heavier than air" flying machines. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES Some mention has already been made of America's production of wheat, the most important of all foodstuffs. This country annually produces more than 3,000,000,000 bushels of corn, 1,000,000,000 bushels of wheat (in 1915, the record year), 1,500,000,000 bushels of oats, 225,000,000 bushels of barley, 35,000,000 bushels of rye, 20,000,000 bushels of buckwheat, 400,000,000 bushels of potatoes, 75,000,000 tons of hay, 28,000,000 bushels of flaxseed, 7,500,000,000 pounds of cotton, 1,000,000,000 pounds of tobacco, 1,900,000 long tons of sugar, and 300,000,000 pounds of wool. It has 65,000,000 swine, 65,000,000 head of cattle, 25,000,000 horses and mules, and 60,000,000 sheep. It produces more than 500,000,000 tons of coal, 1,000,000,000 pounds of copper, and 225,000,000 barrels 245 OUR RESOURCES of petroleum a year. It has 268,000 manufacturing estab- lishments with a yearly output worth $20,000,000,000. Its farm products are worth more than $10,500,000,000 a year. Vast as are these resources, however, they are small by the side of what they might be. Even in the completely settled and cultivated states, scarcely fifty per cent of the available agricultural land is actually under cultivation, while that which is cultivated is not made to produce more than one-half as much as it should. Thus the average yield of wheat is from 15 to 17 bushels to the acre, while in some European countries it is 33 bushels; and the average yield of potatoes seldom reaches 100 bushels, while in Germany it is considerably more than 200 bushels to the acre. Double the cultivated area, and double the acre yield, and the enormous figures given above would be quadrupled. OUR COMMERCIAL MARINE One of the weakest points in our resourcefulness at the beginning of the war was that of the commercial marine. Enormous as was our foreign trade, it was chiefly conducted in foreign vessels under foreign flags. We have at New York the greatest seaport of the world, reckoned in the value of its trade, while in the year before the war the second was German, the third and fourth English, and the fifth Belgian: New York $1,966,256,617 Hamburg 1,960,779,855 London 1,866,930,782 Liverpool 1,816,983,279 Antwerp 1,214,725,495 These were the five first-class ports. No other in the world reached the billion-dollar mark. Now let us see 246 OUR RESOURCES what were our imports from and our exports to the principal countries involved in this war: Imports. Exports. Austria-Hungary $12,969,000 $70,761,000 Belgium 20,010,000 79,869,000 France 83,346,000 172,221,000 Germany 166,626,000 377,464,000 Italy 50,554,000 99,462,000 Netherlands 54,478,000 145,525,000 Russia 9,274,000 45,026,000 United Kingdom 147,180,000 655,005,000 OUR LACK OF TONNAGE The total tonnage of American shipping was indeed large; perhaps the second largest in the world. But the major part of it was on the Great Lakes and in purely coastwise traffic. In foreign trade our total steam tonnage was pitifully small in comparison with that of other coun- tries. Thus : Tons. United States 667,896 United Kingdom 19,202,770 Germany 4,380,348 Russia 790,075 Austria-Hungary 777,729 Denmark 671,000 Holland 983,049 France 1,500,000 Italy 987,559 Japan 1,146,977 Norway 1,422,006 Sweden 782,508 Spain 746,748 247 OUR RESOURCES The natural consequence of these conditions was seen in the small figure which American vessels presented in the commerce of our own ports. In 1913 the total clearances of American steam vessels in foreign trade from our own seaports were 4,520,697 and of foreign vessels 31,221,160. The clearances of shipping from our ports under the flags of the actual and potential belligerents in the present war were as follows: Tons. Austro-Hungarian 427,246 Belgian 356,231 British 19,359,581 French 1,033,931 German 4,587,050 Italian 802,103 Russian 129,635 THE GREAT SHIPPING COMPANIES A list of the great shipping companies of the world, just before the war, arranged in the order of total tonnage, showed that by far the largest was a German line, while another German line was easily second and the next four were British. One of the earliest results of the war in 1914 was to stimulate the increase of American merchant shipping, to do the neutral carrying trade of the world, and the implica- tion of this country in the war is certain still further to promote the same movement, for the supplying of our allies across the sea with the necessaries of existence and for replacing the vast amount of their tonnage which the German submarine campaign has destroyed. 248 Chapter XX OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY Our "Isolated Position" Less Marked than of Old — All the World Now Within Reach — Two Ahen Frontiers — One Marked with a Century of Peace — The Troublous Mexican Frontier — Our Extended Frontage on Two Oceans — Fortu- nate Formation of the Atlantic Littoral for Defense — PossibiUties of an Inland Coastal Waterway, Valuable in Peace, Invaluable in War — Utility of the Panama Canal and Need of Its Defense — American Interest in the Gulf and Caribbean. IN THE early days of the republic we enjoyed, geograph- ically, a '^splendid isolation." The oceans formed prac- tically insuperable barriers against serious invasion. When we got rid of France and Spain as neighbors by taking Louisiana and Florida for our own, there were left abutting upon us the territories of only one important power, and in 1815 we established with it a peace which has ever since remained unbroken; a peace in the perpetuity of which we had so much confidence that we agreed to leave the frontier between us and that power entirely unfortified. Modern inventions, however, have destroyed our isola- tion, and all the world is now within reach and within striking distance of us. The Atlantic Ocean is now scarcely more of a barrier than was the Hudson or the Delaware River in Washington's time. Our efficiency on the sea and our military preparedness on the land, must now be depended upon to protect us from foreign invasion. TWO LAND FRONTIERS There will probably never be occasion for anxiety con- cerning the longer and more important of our two land 249 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY frontiers. The peace which has been unbroken for more than a centur}' is now being mightily confirmed by the union of the two nations in war against a common foe. At the southwest, however, the prospect is not so reassuring. Alread}^ twice in our history we have crossed the ^lexican border with force and arms, and the unliappy condition of that country provokes a fear that other troubles may here- after occur in that same region. It cannot be said, however, that there is any grave menace there to the integrity of this republic. It is true that during the present war, while stiU our relations 'vsith her were friendl}', Germany plotted to use Mexico as a channel for invasion of the United States, for purposes of conquest and the partitioning of our terri- tory. It does not appear, however, that an}- serious Mexican statesman gave the ^'icious intrigue encourage- ment, and we may probably feel assured that none is likely to do so. An attack upon the United States from that direction would be of all most difficult for the invader to prosecute. OUR GREAT COAST LINE It is rather to our enormously extended coast line that we are to look as the potential scene of attack, and therefore as the region to which most defensive attention is to be given. Apart from Alaska and our insular possessions, we have a coast line of thousands of miles, on the Atlantic and Gulf, and on the Pacific, and along it or close to it are seated some of our most important cities. The defense of these cities and of the entire coast line against attack or the landing of an army of invasion must be threefold. The first line of defense is, of course, the navj^, which should be sufficiently strong to render it impossible 250 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY for an enemy to land an army at any point, or to attack one of the coast cities. For efficiency in that respect, the navy needs a good supply of submarine boats, and also a supply of aeroplanes for scouting purposes — to Itvatch for and report the approach of an enemy's fleet. Next there must be an adequate system of coast fortifications around all important coast cities and at the entrances of navigable rivers and bays. Finally, there must be an army of ample force, so mobile that it can speedily be massed at any point, to prevent the landing of a hostile army. nature's provision for defense It is an interesting and most gratifying circumstance that the most important and most exposed portion of our coast, the Atlantic frontage, has been provided by nature with exceptional advantages for defense, needing only a little human co-operation to make them available. The reference is, of course, to the actual and potential system of inland coastal waterways extending from New England to the Gulf. It is a system which, if put into full use, would be of inestimable service in time of peace as a high- way of travel and transportation, and which in time of war would be literally invaluable, since it would provide an intracoastal course of navigation well sheltered and secure from alien attack, and at the same time a means of shifting our coast defense and submarine fleet from point to point in both security and secrecy. The Panama Canal is prized because it will enable us to transfer a fleet swiftly from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa. This intra- coastal waterway would enable us to keep our fleets of torpedo boats, destroyers and submarines lying secure in sheltered waters and ready to issue forth for action from any of a multitude of inlets along the coast. 251 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY THE INTRACOASTAL HIGHWAY Boston is generally accepted as the northern and eastern terminal of the highway. Beyond that point the coast does not, save in a few places, readily lend itself to inland navigation. But Boston is the last important port in that direction. It is in value of its commerce the second port of the United States. It is the point where the intracoastal waterway most directly emerges upon the high seas, and where it is nearest to Europe. It is also a point where an exceptional number of great trunk railroad systems con- verge upon tidewater. For these reasons it will most appropriately constitute the upper terminal and perhaps on the whole the most important center of traffic of the whole coast system. Boston is now connected with the intracoastal route by way of the Cape Cod Canal. That is beyond doubt a most useful passage, and will always enjoy an extensive patron- age. It is not, however, suited to the chief purposes of the intracoastal waterway. Its principal utility is for ocean- going craft. Between it and Boston lies the broad stretch of Cape Cod Bay, almost a part of the high seas and not well adapted to navigation by the barges and other vessels which will throng the intracoastal route. For vessels which have hitherto gone from Boston to New York or southward around Cape Cod, and for those coming down from Portland and other points above Boston, to ports below the latter, it should always be of much value. But for the purposes of canal and other inland navigation there is needed a most sheltered route from Boston Harbor to Long Island Sound. This will be provided by the contemplated canal from Quincy or Weymouth to Fall River, supplemented by another through Rhode Island, from Narragansett Bay through Point Judith Pond and the other lagoons to Watch 252 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY Hill and Fisher's Island Sound. From the latter water the route is direct, down Long Island Sound to New York. AT THE METROPOLIS There are, however, plans for an alternative route which would possess great advantages for both commercial and military purposes. That is, to cross from Fisher's Island Sound to Gardiner's Bay and Peconic Bay, and thence by a short canal across the sand plains to the great chain of lagoons along the southern edge of Long Island, including the Great South Bay and Jamaica Bay, the last-named water giving a superb frontage in the metropolitan borough of Brooklyn. Thence passing back of Coney Island the waterway would reach New York Bay at Gravesend; from which point it could proceed to the Raritan River and trans-Jersey canal either by way of the Lower Bay or by way of the Kill van KuU, Newark Bay and Staten Island Sound. The latter route would doubtless be followed by all vessels which desired to be in touch with the trunk rail- road lines, and very largely by all which came by way of Long Island Sound and the East River. It would take them directly to the doors of Newark and Elizabeth, and past the immense industrial and commercial establishments which will soon cover the Newark and Elizabeth meadows and will make those hitherto neglected regions one of the chief centers of business activity in the United States. FROM THE DELAWARE SOUTHWARD The remainder of the route is pretty well determined. A notably easy canal route has been surveyed across New Jersey, from Raritan Bay to the Delaware River and Philadelphia, whence improvement of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal will carry it to Chesapeake Bay with 253 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY access to Baltimore and Washington. From the neighbor- hood of Norfolk a canal will traverse the Dismal Swamp region to the Pasquotank River, or else will go directly from the Chesapeake and the James River to the head of Curri- tuck Sound. In either case the route thence would be by way of Albemarle, Croatan, Pamlico, Core and Back sounds, to Beaufort, N. C. There is already a channel along which small vessels can thus pass from the Chesa- peake to Beaufort inland, avoiding the terrors of Hat- teras and Cape Lookout. In- deed, they may proceed about thirty miles further, along Bogue Sound to Bogue Inlet, at the mouth of White Oak River, where, however, there are no port facilities. Here, however, the inland thoroughfare now ends, and vessels must take to the open Atlantic to proceed to Wil- mington, N. C, to Charles- ton, S. C, to Savannah, and other Southern ports. Obviously, that fact enormously impairs the value of the whole route. It makes it a water- way from Massachusetts Bay merely to Onslow Bay, on the North Carolina coast, instead of to the Gulf of Mexico, and it leaves Wilmington and the traffic of the Cape Fear River, Georgetown and the Great Pedee River, Charleston, 254 The Waterway? TO BALriMORE& WA.SHIKGIOU OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY Savannah and Brunswick all cut off from inland connection with the North. Moreover, while torpedo boats and sub- marines may now pass inland from Norfolk to Beaufort, they cannot get from the latter port to Charleston, the chief naval station south of the Chesapeake, without navigating the open ocean for nearly two hundred and fifty miles along a dangerous coast. FROM THE CAROLINAS TO TEXAS To fill this gap with a suitable waterway would not be a formidable task. From Beaufort to Cape Fear, nearly half the distance, natural thoroughfares exist which need nothing but deepening and connecting with short stretches of canal. From Cape Fear to the confluence of the Wacca- maw and Great Pedee rivers, in South Carolina, would be the hardest part of the undertaking, but army engineers have estimated that a canal could be constructed between those points for only $3,000,000. Then from Winyah Bay, at the mouth of the Great Pedee, to Charleston, to Savan- nah, to Brunswick, to Fernandina, to Jacksonville and so on to Key West, nature has provided passages which need nothing but a little improvement. From the St. John's River across upper Florida a canal may readily be constructed giving access to the Gulf near or at Apalachee Bay, whence St. George's Sound, Choctawatchee Bay and other coastal waters give natural passage to Pensacola, to Mobile Bay, to Mississippi Bay and to New Orleans; while from the latter city nature has provided an inland thoroughfare along almost the entire Louisianian and Texan coast, to Galveston and thence to the Rio Grande. THE VALUE OF THE SCHEME The value of such a waterway, from Boston Harbor to the Rio Grande, is to be estimated from two points of 255 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY view. One is the commercial. In connection with that, a few figures will be pertinent. In the first ten years of the present century, along the very stretch of coast which this inland waterway is to serve, 1,675 vessels with a tonnage of 483,743 were lost and 4,040 with a tonnage of 3,289,200 were more or less seriously damaged. The loss to vessels was more than $30,000,000, and the loss to cargoes was more than $10,000,000. The number of Hves lost was 2,223. Now it is not to be contended that all these losses would have been spared if the intracoastal waterway had been in existence and operation. But if we reckon that only half of them would have been spared, which is a most con- servative estimate, we shall have a saving of $20,000,000, or $2,000,000 a year, which is as much as it would cost to open the entire route to navigation; not to mention the saving of more than 1,100 human lives. Surely it would be better to spend the money foi: the canal than to send it to the bottom of the sea. FOR COAST DEFENSE So much for the utility of the intracoastal waterway in time of peace. It should not be an objection to the project, not even to the most extreme pacifist, that it would be of still greater, vastly greater, utility in time of war, par- ticularly as its military usefulness would be entirely for defensive and not at all for aggressive purposes. Such a waterway would not be of sufficient capacity to accommo- date great battleships, and these indeed would have no occasion to use it. But its utihty for the mosquito fleet, the functions of which are exclusively defensive, would be simply inestimable. It would enable submarines, torpedo boats, and small gunboats, transports, and tenders, to move freely from one part of the coast to another without being 256 a" o- ft) Oi ro .*^ s ? ^S 3 O S 2 f^! OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY exposed to the perils of the open and stormy ocean, or to attack or even observation by the enemy. It would enable them to be concentrated swiftly and secretly at any point on the coast where they might be needed; to swarm out of the nearest inlet to repel an approaching enemy. It would make any attempt to blockade any port of our coast futile, since that port would be in inland communication by water with all other ports along the coast. An enemy's fleet approaching any part of our coast would be confronted by a mobile fleet. There has been talk of the possibility of an enemy making a landing in force upon some remote and undefended part of our shores. That might readily be done, in present circumstances, if our battle-fleet were evaded or defeated. It would be impossible if the coast were lined at all points with a navigable inland waterway swarming with submarines and destroyers. And of course the peace- ful commerce of this route could be maintained in time of war in a security which would be impossible outside of the coast line. PANAMA AND THE CARIBBEAN The great need of the Panama Canal was felt at the beginning of our Spanish War; and its immense potential utility in war as well as its actual utihty in peace is now increasingly obvious. It would enable our fighting fleet to be quickly transferred from one coast to the other, as dringer threatened. In proportion to its value, however, is the need of protecting it from hostile seizure or destruc- tion. Such protection is not to be afforded by mere forti- fications at the terminals, though of course these are essential and the wisdom of our government in securing the treaty right to construct them is manifest. The security of the Canal depends upon our dominance in 17 257 OUR MILITARY GEOGRAPHY the adjacent waters, and particularly the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It was in order to have a foot- hold from which to attack the Canal that Germany so persistently intrigued for the possession of territory, if only a naval station, somewhere about the Caribbean, and it was to hamper us in our plans for defense of the Canal Map Showing the Danish West Indies that she opposed, on one occasion successfully, our acquisi- tion of the Danish West Indies. Her extreme desire a few years ago to inveigle Holland into becoming a member of the empire was partly, of course, in order to gain Holland's frontage on the North Sea, but it was also in no small measure in order to be able to plant the German flag upon the Dutch Islands in the Caribbean. There is no more essential feature of our scheme of national defense than the maintenance of American dominance in those waters. 258 The Panama Canal A bird's-eye view of the great canal, which was planned as a short cut for the fleet of the United States from one ocean to the other. Chapter XXI THE MEANING OF THE WAR War Means War — The Initial Preparations — Increase of the Ai-my and Navy — Appropriating a War Budget — Seizure of German and Austrian Vessels which Had Been Interned — Arrest of German Spies and Conspirators — Warnings and Orders to Ahen Enemies — Government Confiscation of Wireless Telegraphy — The Nation Placed upon a War Footing — The Coming of War Commissioners from the AlUes — Our Practical Alliance with European Powers — A New Era in the Foreign Relationships of the United States. WAR MEANS WAR. That fact was not instantly grasped by the American nation upon our declaration of war with Germany. The scene of the conflict was far away. Surely we should not actually be mingled in the fighting. We should lend money to the allies, of course, and use our ships for conveying to them the supphes which they needed. But that would be all. It did not take long, however, for a truer conception of the situation to dawn upon even the easiest-going American mind. More than half a century ago Lowell wrote "It's war we're in, not politics; It's systems wrastlin' now, not parties;" and in the fateful month of April, 1917, the American people began to realize the fact. Immediately upon the declaration of war, bills were introduced in Congress for the prosecution of the conflict. A war loan of $7,000,000,000, the largest single appropri- ation ever made by any government in the world, was passed without a dissenting vote in either House. Later an Urgent Deficiency bill, appropriating $2,827,000,000 259 THE MEANING OF THE WAR more for war expenses was passed, only a single vote being cast against it in the House of Representatives. Bills for the increase of the army and navy were enacted, one of them providing for "selective conscription" in place of the discredited volunteer system. This last su- premely important measure, through scandalous ''playing pontics" in Congress, was not enacted until May 19th, and then the humiliating announcement was made by the War Department that, owing to the ''depletion of supplies," none of the 500,000 conscripts would actually be called to the colors before about the first of September! GEEMAN SHIPS SEIZED Meantime administrative acts were strenuous. A few hours after the enactment of the war resolution United States officers took possession of the vast and valuable array of German merchant vessels which had been interned for safety at various American ports. There were ninety- one of these vessels, including the largest steamship in the world and several others of the largest and swiftest class. Their total tonnage was in the neighborhood of 400,000, and their value was probably much more than 1100,000,000. A catalogue of this gigantic argosy, the largest by far ever seized in the history of the world, is as follows: At the port of New York, including Brooklyn and Hoboken: Gross Approximate Tons. Value. Vaterland, passenger 54,282 $7,500,000 George Washington, passenger 27,000 5,000,000 Kaiser Wilhelm II, passenger 19,361 4,000,000 President Lincoln, passenger 18,168 3,600,000 President Grant, passenger 18,072 3,600,000 260 THE MEANING OF THE WAR Gross Approximate Tons. Value, Pennsylvania, passenger 13,333 2,600,000 Grosser Kurfiirst, passenger 13,243 2,600,000 Barbarossa, passenger 10,915 2,000,000 Princess Irene, passenger 10,881 2,000,000 Friedrich der Grosse, passenger 10,695 2,000,000 Hamburg, passenger 10,531 2,000,000 Konig Wilhelm II, passenger 9,410 2,000,000 Prinz Eitel Friedrich, passenger 8,797 1,500,000 Armenia, freighter 5,471 1,000,000 Adamsturm, freighter 5,000 1,000,000 Pisa, freighter 4,967 1,000,000 Prinz Joachim, passenger 4,760 1,000,000 Allemannia, freighter 4,630 1,000,000 Harburg, freighter 4,472 1,000,000 Magdeburg, freighter 4,497 800,000 Bohemia, freighter 4,284 800,000 Nassovia, freighter 3,092 800,000 Portonia, freighter. 2,778 600,000 Maia, freighter 2,555 600,000 Indra, ship 1,746 400,000 Clara Mennig, freighter 1,685 500,000 Matador, bark 1,468 300,000 At twenty-three other ports, in the United States and the insular possessions: Tons. Tons. Boston: Baltimore: Amerika 22,622 Bulgaria 11,440 Kronprinzessin Cecilia . 19,503 Rhein 10,058 Cincinnati 16,339 Neckar 9,835 Koln 7,409 Philadelphia: Wittekind 5,640 Rhaetia 6,600 Ockenfels 5,621 Prmz Oskar 6,026 New London: Newport News: Willehad 4,761 Arcadia 5,454 261 THE MEANING OF THE WAR Tons. Wilmington, N. C. : Kiel 4,494 Nicaria 3,974 Savannah : Hohenfelde 2,974 Charleston : Liebenfels 4,525 Pensacola : Rudolph Blumberg 1 ,769 Vogesen 3,916 Jacksonville: Frieda Leonhardt 2,822 New Orleans : Breslau 7,524 Andromeda 2,554 San Francisco: Serapis 4,756 Neptun 197 Ottawa 3,659 Portland, Ore.: Dalbeck 2,723 Seattle : Saxonia 4,424 Winslow, Wash. : Steinbeck 2,164 Astoria : Arnoldus Vinnen 1,859 Kurt 3,109 Honolulu : Pommern 6,557 Prinz Waldemar 3,227 Setos 4,730 Holsatia 5,649 Locksun 1 ,657 LoongMoon 1,971 Tons. Honolulu — Continued Staatssekretar Kraetke . 2,009 Governeur Jaeschke 1,738 Hilo: C. J. D. Ahlers 7,490 San Juan, P.P.: Odenwald 3,537 Pago Pago, Samoa: Elsas 6,591 Manila : Andalusia 5,433 Buchum 6,161 Camilla Rickmers 5,130 Carl Diederichsen 1 ,243 Clara Jebsen 1,735 Coblenz 3,130 Elmshorn 4,594 Esslingen 4,902 Johanne 1,531 Lyeemoon 1,925 Mark 6,579 PongTong 1,631 Rajah 2,028 Sachsen 8,007 Sambia 4,765 Suevia 3,789 Tubingen 5,586 Zamboanga: Borneo 2,168 Marudu 1,514 Darvel 1,308 Cebu: Prinzess Alice 10,981 Tsintau 1,685 Wiegand 499 Many of these vessels had been maheiously damaged by their ci'ews, bj^ the breaking of parts of the engines, 262 THE MEANING OF THE WAR etc., before surrender; but none so seriously but that they could soon be repaired and put into service. AUSTRIAN SHIPS ALSO TAKEN A few days later, upon severance of diplomatic relations with Germany's ally, Austria-Hungary, the government similarly took possession of fourteen ships of that nation- ality, as follows: Gross Approximate Tonnage. Value. New York Bay: Martha Washington 8,312 $4,000,000 Dora 7,037 2,000,000 Ida 4,730 1,500,000 Newark Bay: Himalaia 4,958 1,500,000 Boston: Erny 6,515 3,000,000 New Orleans : Clara 3,932 1,000,000 Teresa 3,769 1,000,000 Anna 1,575 200,000 Pensacola : Lucia 6,744 3,000,000 Galveston : Campania 3,551 1,500,000 Morawitz 4,795 2,000,000 Newport News: Budapest 3,651 1,000,000 Philadelphia : Franconia 4,637 2,000,000 Tampa: Borneo 3,621 1,000,000 The pier and water-front property at Hoboken, which had been occupied by the great German steamship lines 263 / THE MEANING OF THE WAR as their terminal, was taken by the United States Govern- ment as a center for shipment of suppHes to the allies. RADIO STATIONS SEIZED The government also, immediately upon the declaration of war, took possession of all wireless telegraphic stations, pubHc and private, and caused all that it did not need for its own purposes to be dismantled. This was, of course, to prevent the misuse of such apparatus by German spies, and also to prevent anybody from evading the censorship and transmitting information which the government did not wish sent out. In New York City alone more than two hundred amateur plants were thus seized and dismantled. MANY SPIES ARRESTED The day after the declaration of war no fewer than sixty-five German spies, or suspects, were arrested by the military authorities in various places throughout the country, while thousands more were placed under the observation of the Secret Service. This was the first time since the War of 1812 that such measures had been taken against aliens. The President also issued a proclamation, which was followed by state and municipal orders everywhere, pre- scribing the conditions on which unnaturalized Germans might continue to live in the United States and enjoy their freedom. They were required to surrender at once all arms and ammunition, and not to live or go within a certain distance of any arsenal, munitions factory, or other estabhshment named in the proclamation. Subject to these conditions, they were permitted to go about their business as usual. 264 THE MEANING OF THE WAR The agencies of German insurance companies, which were doing an enormous business in this country, carrying some $3,500,000,000 in risks, were permitted to continue operations, but all their assets were to be kept here. BUSINESS ORGANIZING FOR WAR All over the country, business began to organize for war. More than fifty railroad presidents, representing 250,000 miles of roads, met at Washington to perfect plans for placing their roads at the disposal of the government for purposes of military transportation. The Federal Shipping Board began arrangements for the building of numerous cargo ships to take the place of those destroyed by German submarines, and General George W. Goethals, the builder of the Panama Canal, was placed in charge of this colossal undertaking. Meantime, for the protection of existing shipping and to minimize the danger of unexpected raids of hostile cruisers or submarines, barred zones of from two to ten miles in radius were established across the approaches to all harbors, which vessels were forbidden to enter at night, or without permission by the harbor patrol. INDUSTRY AT THE NATION'S SERVICE Within three days of the declaration of war about 32,000 manufacturing establishments, including the largest in the country, placed themselves at the nation's service and offered to turn their plants and workmen over to the government, if needed. The American Federation of Labor, comprising nearly all labor organizations in the United States, through the unanimous action of its advisory committee pledged itself not to take advantage of the country's necessities to change existing standards of hours or wages, thus averting strikes. 265 THE MEANING OF THE WAR CO-OPERATION WITH THE ALLIES One of the most interesting and significant achieve- ments of the period immediately following the declaration of war was the entering of the United States into a co- operative entente with the allied powers of Europe. Two important commissions came at once from Great Britain and France to this country and held a series of war con- ferences with the President and his Cabinet at Washington. That from Great Britain was headed by Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary and formerly Prime Minister, one of the foremost British statesmen of his time, and one who throughout his career had been distinguished for friendliness to America. The French commission was headed by M. Rene Viviani, formerly Prime Minister, and Field Marshal Joffre, the hero of the battle of the Marne. These commissions were cordially received by the President and Congress, and with vast enthusiasm by the general public. One of their earliest acts was to pay a visit of homage to the home and tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon. They made it quite clear to the American Government that there was urgent need of our aid, in money, in ships and in men; to keep the European aUies supplied with food, and to reinforce the armies in France which for so long a time had been enduring the awful strain of holding back the German hordes. As a result of their representa- tions our government was incited to redoubled efforts, and it was decided to send an American army to France at the earliest practicable date. NO '' ENTANGLING ALLIANCES" It was also made clear, however, that the United States was not asked or expected to renounce the Monroe Doctrine 266 THE MEANING OF THE WAR or to depart from its fixed policy of not forming permanent alliances with European powers. On this point Mr. Balfour, speaking for all his colleagues, was most explicit. ^'I am told," he said, ''that there are some doubting critics who seem to think that the object of the mission of Great Britain and France is to inveigle the United States out of its traditional policy and to entangle it in a formal alliance, secret or pubHc, with European powers. I cannot imagine any rumor with less foundation, nor can I imagine any policy so utterly unnecessary. Our confidence in the assistance which we are going to get from this country is not based upon such considerations as those which arise out of formal treaties." PURPORT OF THE ENTENTE There was no treaty, then, but there was a ''gentle- men's agreement," or an entente, no less specific and binding. It was to the effect that the United States and the European aUies would co-operate in the war to the end, and that no power should make a separate peace with Germany. At the end of the war, the United States would take an equal part in the peace conference, and terms would be insisted upon which would be satisfactory to all. But there would be no thought of dragging the United States into any permanent league of European powers, or into matters which did not directly concern it. Thus was begun a new era in the relationships between America and the European powers, which was in fact merely a reversion to and fulfilment of the policy enunciated by the founders of the republic but never before put into execution. 267 Chapter XXII OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES Mutual Misunderstandings at the Beginning of the War — The President's Ideals of Perfect Neutrality — Seeking the Impossible — Reasons for Our Official Attitude — Effect of the German Propaganda — Astonishment of the Allies at Our Course — America Saved by Three European Powers from German Invasion • — The Service of the British Fleet — Radical Difference Between the Two Bel- ligerent Leagues — Allied Legality and German Illegality — Dollars or Human Lives — America at Last Realizing the Difference — Mutual Understanding and Co-operation at Last Attained Without Sacrifice of American Principles. A DRAMA of misunderstanding; that is what we must consider the great war to have been before our entry into it; at least so far as America and the AlHes — now our allies — were concerned. Never, perhaps, was there another war in which the essential issues were so little appreciated by the chief neutral power, or in which the chief neutral and one of the belligerent sides so little understood each other; though in the end the most complete mutual under- standing came. We speak now of the official attitude of mind. Doubtless there were many individuals on each side of the Atlantic who had the Vision, and who from the beginning rightly appreciated the position and the conduct of both America and the Allies. But diplomacy is directed and history is largely made by the official and not the individual course. THE president's CONCEPTION OF NEUTRALITY The official attitude of the United States was set forth by the President in his proclamation of neutrahty, at the very beginning of the war. The proclaiming of neutrality was of course not only proper but necessary, unless we 268 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES were at once to implicate ourselves in the war. But the President went further than merely to proclaim official neutrahty. He sought popular neutrality as well. He was aware of the large numbers of our own citizens of British, French and other allied nations origin and sym- pathy, and of the large though lesser numbers of those of Teutonic affiliation, and he dreaded the possible dissensions and conflicts which might arise in this country between the respective partisans of the two belligerent leagues. With this in mind, he exhorted all Americans to observe strict neutrality, not merely in acts and words, but even in thought. We must not, he insisted, permit our inner and secret S3anpathies to turn toward one side or the other. That was impossible, of course. It was an exhortation against nature. It is doubtful if many ever seriously tried to obey his injunction; and it is practically certain that few ever succeeded in doing so. But that impossible attitude was the official attitude of record, and it was that by which foreign nations were compelled to judge us. Indeed, even to a date only a little while before the American declaration of war, that attitude was nominally still main- tained. As related elsewhere in this volume, in his note suggesting overtures for peace, in December, 1916, President Wilson referred to the two belligerent leagues of Europe as having at least professedly the same objects and pur- poses in the war; a suggestion against which the Allies strongly protested. REASONS FOR OUR ATTITUDE Suggestion has already been made of the President's motive, or of one of his motives, in recommending this impossibly neutral attitude. There were other reasons why m^any of the American people were at first unable to 269 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES perceive the real issues of the war, and were slow in realizing how immediate and intense was American interest in it. We had been at peace with the world for many years, and had got out of the habit of thinking in terms of war or of analyzing and comprehending the causes and pur- poses of war. A stupendous and complex problem was presented to us, and we were unfamiliar with the method of its solution and even with the value of its various factors. There had grown up in America, too, the strange delu- sion that we had a traditional policy of complete isolation from European affairs, and that all European wars were necessarily matters of indifference to us, in which we were by no means to become involved. We must also recognize the facts that there had long been here a persistent and often vigorous anti-British propaganda. It not infrequently happens that dissensions between near relatives are more bitter, up to a certain point, than those between strangers. Thus America, being chiefly of British origin, indulged in a family feud with the Mother Country. The large and important Irish element in the United States, too, propioted a certain disapproval of and even resentment at Great Britain on account of the undoubted grievances which Ireland had formerly for many yeans suffered under British rule. THE GERMAN PROPAGANDA Another potent factor in misleading American opinion at the beginning was the shrewd, insidious and altogether unscrupulous German propaganda, which was Protean in form and often ingenious in the superlative degree. It took the guise of peace societies, of anti-militarist leagues, of petitions against the sale of military munitions, and of 270 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES other ostensibly neutral and benevolent movements; all organized and directed, however, by Germans or German sympathizers, largely financed with German money, and all aiming at the same end, to create sympathy with Ger- many and to exacerbate animosity against England. A single example — one of many — may be cited. Early In the war certain German intriguers and conspirators started the circulation of petitions to Congress to enact an embargo upon the exportation of munitions. This was signed by more than a million persons, all over the country, under the auspices of a so-called "Organization of American Women for Strict Neutrality." The signatures were solicited on the ground that we ought not to sell munitions to the foes of Germany because ''Germany did not permit her citizens to sell arms or munitions of war to Spain during our war with that nation," and that same statement was embodied in the text of the petition itself. The fact is that that statement was a deliberate falsehood, first put forward by a notorious German agent in New York and later used at German instigation in this petition, for the direct purpose of deceiving and misleading the American people. The indisputable official record of our own government is that during that entire war vessels freely carried ammunition from German ports to Spain. THE ALLIES ASTONISHED All these things had their effect in America, to the astonishment of the Allies. Those countries saw through the German intrigues and falsehoods far more quickly and more clearly than did we, and they could not under- stand our blindness. They realized, too, from the very beginning the real character of the war, that it was a war on their side of democracy against autocracy, of the rights 271 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES of man against the "divine right of kings." They saw in the violation of treaties, the repudiation of international law, and the subversion of independent nationalities a direct menace to every nation in the world. If Germany could override the rights of Belgium, any nation could override the rights of any other. All this was very clear to the British and French minds, and the}^ could not understand why it was not equally obvious to the American mind. They could not under- stand why the United States failed to do so much as to file a protest or a remonstrance against the violation of Belgium, when it was one of the signatories of that treat}^ of The Hague which declared and covenanted, on the faith of all the signatory nations, that the territory of that kingdom — that is, of all neutral states — should be inviolate. NOT ASTONISHED BUT ASTOUNDED They were not merely astonished, they were astounded, at some of the further developments. They could not understand why, after the appalling tragedy of the Lusi- tania, we did not promptly hold Germany to the "strict accountabihty " which we had threatened. They could not understand how we could continue on terms of friendly diplomatic intercourse with a power after we had found that its Ambassador, attaches and consuls in this countr}^ had been systematically conspiring for the commission of felonies against our domestic peace, law and order, and against our status as a neutral power. They did not, of course, give due weight to the circum- stances of this nation — its utter unpreparedness for war, its habitual disinclination toward war, and the essential difference between its point of view and manner of thought and their own. In a lesser emergency there might have been 272 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES less misunderstanding. But this world cataclysm was so stu- pendous, so stupefying, so overwhelming, that neither they nor we could appreciate the other's feelings or point of view. OUR THREE SAVIORS Meantime three European nations were our saviors. The fact was largely ignored at the time, and was even ignorantly or maliciously denied. But it was and is a fact, which must abide in history. The ultimate purpose of Germany in beginning this war was universal conquest of all nations; and, as John Hay once remarked, ^'all nations includes America." That fact was made suffi- ciently clear in the writings of General von Bernhardi and other German militarists. It was unmistakably sug- gested by the pains with which Germany's army and navy departments secured, long before this war, the most elabor- ate, accurate and detailed maps and plans of our chief harbors and seaboard cities and the country surrounding them. It was openly boasted at the beginning of the war, by many prominent and authoritative Germans. "In three weeks," they said, ''we shall have Paris; in three months, England; in three years, America!" It may be added that since his return home Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Germany from before the beginning of the war until our breach of relations with that country, has amply and emphatically confirmed, from knowledge acquired at Berlin, this account of Germany's intentions. Now there were three things which frustrated this design of the Kaiser's, and which therefore saved the United States from having to fight for its life against a wholesale German invasion. The first was the sublime heroism and self-immolation of Belgium in resisting with her puny might the onset of the German legions. She was quickly 18 273 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES crushed, and has ever since been suffering mart^Tdom for her temerity. But the few days of delay of the German army in battering down the forts of Liege enabled France to get her troops together and England to send a handful of her '' contemptible little army" across the Channel, to make a stand at the Marne, near the very ground where, more than fourteen centuries before, Aetius and the Gauls had defeated Attila and his Hunnish hordes fresh from their ravishing of Belgium. It was that victorious stand at the Marne that prevented the modern Attila and his Huns, fresh from their ravishing of Belgium, from fulfilling their boast of ''Paris in three weeks." But even before that, and at that time, and ever since down to the present moment, it was and is the British fleet that saved America and the world from the German menace. Month after month and year after year, the French and British armies, at fearful cost, held in Cham- pagne and Picardy the line that never was broken, and kept the Teutonic armies in check. Month after month and year after year, too, in the stormy northern seas, the British fleet kept the German navy locked within its mine- guarded ports, and thus preserved the freedom of the seas for us and for all peaceful nations, and protected America from fulfilment of the German boast of conquest within three years. It is the British fleet and it alone that enables us to enter this war with Germany on our own terms, and not confronted with German dreadnoughts thundering at the gateways of our ports, and with German legions debarking upon our unguarded coasts. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BELLIGERENTS All this is quite clear to America today. It was clear to the Allies beyond the sea from the very beginning of 274 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES the war. And their understanding of it, and their failure to understand our apparent lack of understanding of it, account for their astonishment at our earlier attitude. These things also account for some of the friction which arose between them and us in the former stages of the war. There was undoubtedly some French and British inter- ference with our commerce and our mails, and those powers appeared upon the face of the case to be violating our rights and denying the freedom of the seas. They did not proclaim a true blockade of the German coast, under which they would of course have had an undeniable right to stop all commerce. Yet they did stop and forbid our commerce with Germany and even with certain neutral states, and they exercised a certain censorship over our mails. These things were regarded as grievances by us, and led to some more or less animated diplomatic contro- versy. Here again there was misunderstanding. The AUies regarded themselves as fighting our battles for us as well as their own, as indeed they were, as we now see and con- fess. Therefore they thought that we ought not to object to such measures as were necessary for the successful prosecution of their campaign. That was a point of view which was very real to them, but which we did not in the least appreciate. COMMERCIAL ABUSES There were other reasons for their course. They did not declare a blockade, because to have done so would have imposed far greater hardships upon us than those which we did suffer. It would have meant the confisca- tion instead of the mere turning back of vessels which attempted to break through the Hne. 275 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES But they did interfere with our commerce with neutral states, because those states were bordering upon Germany or were in commercial intercourse with her, and the goods which we shipped to them were perfectly well known to be destined for Germany. It would have been folly for the Allies to prohibit our shipping supplies to Germany directly, and yet permitting us to ship them in unlimited quantities to Denmark, to be sent right across that country into Germany. That such was the destination of the goods, there was no doubt; there was not even a pretence at denial of it. It was perfectly obvious from the fact that immediately after the outbreak of the war the importa- tions into those neutral states — Denmark, Norway, and Holland — enormously increased. It would have been absurd to pretend that because of the war or for any other reason those countries suddenly needed for their own use three or four times as great supphes as ever before. An example of this abuse of commerce may be cited. A concern in Holland began soliciting from Japan ship- ments of Japanese bronze statuary, as ''works of art" which of course could not be considered contraband of war. But it stated explicitly that it did not care what the subjects were, nor whether the pieces were artistically meritorious or not, so long as they were of solid bronze, the heavier the better. They need not even be finished and pohshed; in the roughest form they would be just as acceptable. Yet, however rough they were, they should be packed in thick sheets of india rubber, to protect them from being scratched or dented! Of course it was nothing in the world but a scheme for gejiting supphes of bronze and rubber for mihtary purposes. 276 ^°'^*'"""™"""'m1or-Oenek„.GbokoeW.Goethai,s for the government. The Right Hon. DA\aD Lloyd GEORfSE Who became Prime Minister of England December 6 191G. His work cKin^^^^ the war was of great importance, first as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and then Mmister of Munitions, and after the death of Ivitchener as Mimster of War. OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIED MISUSING THE MAILS There were similar abuses of the mails. Germans in America and elsewhere made use of them to ship into Germany goods which if sent as freight would instantly have been seized as contraband. Tons of copper and india rubber and other goods were offered for transmission through the parcels post, and indeed large quantities were sent at great expense by first-class letter post. Of course military and naval information, secured by German spies, was also sent through the mails, especially after the United States Government established supervision over the wire- less telegraphic stations and forbade the transmission of non-neutral messages by that means. In brief, the Allies were not interfering with legitimate mails or commerce, but were merely putting a stop to their illegitimate use under cover of specious pretences. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BELLIGERENTS From the beginning of the war, moreover, there was a radical difference between the belligerents in their attitude toward this country, and in the character of those acts of theirs which gave or were supposed to give us cause for offense. The acts of the Allies in interfering with our commerce^and mails were at worst of disputable legality. There was not one of them for which some justifying argu- ment based on international law and precedent could not be adduced; some of the precedents having been set by this country itself in its treatment of neutral commerce during the Civil War. Thus we had intercepted and confiscated a cargo bound in a British ship from one British port to another — to wit, from Liverpool to Nassau, New Providence — on the ground that it was contraband and was meant to be transshipped from the second port to a 277 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES belligerent destination; and that act was sustained by our Supreme Court and was acquiesced in by the British Govern- ment. That certainly gave some ground for the inter- ception of cargoes bound from an American to a Dutch or Danish port when there was reasonable cause for belief that they were to be transshipped thence to a German destination. On the other hand, the acts of Germany were indisputably and confessedly illegal; gross violations of international law and treaty rights, for which not even the most vehement partisan of Germany could offer a pretence of legal justi- fication. Thus there was nothing more clear in law than that merchant vessels must not be destroyed until visit and search had demonstrated the contraband character of their cargo ; that even then they were not to be destroyed unless the conveyance of them to port was physicalh' impossible; and that in case of destruction satisfactory provision was to be made for the safety of their passengers and crew. All these principles were flagrantly and defiantly violated by Germany, simply on the ground that she had adopted a new method of warfare — submarine — which made it impossible, or unsafe, or inconvenient, for her to obey the law. DOLLARS AND HUMAN LIVES There was another difference, of a still more striking and impressive character. That was, that at most the Allies destroyed our property, while the Germans destroyed human lives. The Allies interfered with our commerce, seized our property, lessened our financial profits, and delayed the transmission of our mails; but nothing more. They did not destroy nor imperil a single American fife. Germany, on the other hand, not only did all these 278 f f; 1 j.....\ r^^^ '• i - '■* ■:« 9 if y '^ f 1 . §^"§ OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES things which the AUies did, but also she imperiled and destroyed the lives of many American citizens. There was a contrast which smote upon the sensibilities of humanity itself with convincing force. On the one hand dollars, on the other human lives. Between the two it was impossible for us to hesitate. REALIZING THE DIFFERENCE These radical and essential differences, differences of kind and not merely of degree, were not at first fully appre- ciated by the American Government and people. But as the war proceeded the realization became more and more complete. President Wilson emphasized it when he denounced the German submarine campaign as necessarily contrary to law and to humanity; something which could not be mended but must be ended. The result was that by the beginning of the present year the American Government and people, with excep- tions so few as to be negligible, had by the inexorable logic of events been brought to take almost precisely the view of the war which the Allies had taken from the beginning, and when after our declaration of war against Germany the commissioners of the chief allied powers came hither to confer with our government, complete accord was found to prevail. MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING The mutual understanding was as complete as the misunderstanding had been at the beginning of the war. On the one hand, the United States appreciated the neces- sity of co-operation with the Allies and of persistence in the campaign until Prussian militarism should be thoroughly defeated and it would be possible to restore peace on a 279 OUR RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES basis of justice and of assurance against the recurrence of the war. The idea, once expressed, of ''peace without victory," was seen to be erroneous, and peace with victory — victory for justice and international law and the principles of humanity — to be a necessity of mankind. On the other hand, the AlHes understood the reason and the righteousness of the American resolution to maintain the long-established policy of this country not to meddle with affairs beyond its own concern and not to enter into permanent alliances with European powers. It was per- ceived that co-operation did not require complication, and that it would be possible for the United States to fight this war through and participate in the establishment of terms of peace in the most loyal and complete co-opera- tion with the AUies, and yet not to bind itself to anything beyond those Hmits. In such an understanding America and the Allies came together in April and May, 1917, and together engaged in the transcendent task of bringing order out of chaos and of restoring law and justice, humanity and the rights of man, in the midst of an all but universal cataclysm. 280 Chapter XXIII PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS Our Relations with Latin America — German Influences Hostile to Us in Several States — Suspicion of Our Motives — German Schemes of Invasion — The Awakening of Latin America — Approval of Our Breach of Relations with Germany — Similar Course of the European Neutrals, and of China — Universal Condemnation of the German Submarine Campaign — Our Declaration of War Similarly Approved — Brazil's Breach of Relations with Germany — Course of Other States — Latin America Practically United in Support of This Country. WHAT OF Latin America? That was one of the first and most interesting questions asked in and concerning the war, and one the answer to which has been supremely significant and gratifying. It must be borne in mind that for some little time before the outbreak of the war our relations with the countries to the south of us had not been as cordial and confidential as might have been desired. With some of them, indeed, our relations were strained and unsympathetic. We had been practically if not technically at war with Mexico. Colombia still cherished resentment for her loss of Panama, with which, though not equitably, she charged the United States. Chili had not altogether forgotten our unwarranted meddling in her domestic affairs away back in 1891. And in all three of these countries German financial as well as diplomatic influence was particularly strong, and of course was exerted to the fullest extent against the United States. In fact, as suggested in another chapter, the unpleasantness between this country and Colombia was almost entirely of German incitement and fomentation, while if the troubles in Mexico 281 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS were not of German origin it was largely because of German intrigues and conspiracies that they were turned against this country. In two of the southern states of Brazil, moreover, there were considerable colonies of German immigrants and their descendants, who had purposely been kept purely German and quite unassimilated with the Brazilians, in hope some day of forming the nucleus of a German colonial empire in that region, and the extent of their influence upon the course of Brazil was an unknown quantity. SUSPICION OF THE UNITED STATES Beside these specific circumstances, it is undeniable that a certain degree of suspicion concerning the intentions of the United States toward them prevailed at that time among nearly if not quite all the states of Latin America. Our mischievous meddling in Chili, our acquisition of the Panama Canal, our coercion of Venezuela, our establish- ment of virtual protectorates over Haiti and Santo Domingo, our action toward some of the Central American states, and above all our extraordinary policy toward Mexico, had given anti-American intriguers and agitators apparently plausible ground for insinuating that we had a purpose to override the independence of all those countries and to make them tributary to us. Not for many years had our relations with Latin America been in so delicate if not so critical a condition, and it was in full understanding of that fact that early in the war the German Government began plotting to form an alliance with Mexico and to strike at the United States through that country, backed with the moral if not the mihtary aid of all the countries at the south. 282 PAN -A ME RICA AND OTHERS PAN-AMERICAN AWAKENING But in that expectation Germany was grievously dis- appointed. Probably no countries in the world are more versed in international law and jurisprudence, or have a more scrupulous regard for the sanctity of the same, than those between the Rio Grande and Cape Horn. They were quick, therefore, to perceive the iniquity of the German course, and to perceive in it a menace against themselves and all other nations. Even in Mexico, amid the domestic chaos of that unhappy country, the real animus of the German intrigues was understood, and little or no encour- agement was given to the anti- American temptations. "Timeo Teutones," said the land of the Aztecs, "et dona ferentes.'' There began, then, an awakening of Latin America such as that continent had not known before, and a turning toward the United States similar to that which had followed the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine and which had not been known since. It was universally felt that Germany was renewing that menace of the Holy Alliance which the Monroe Doctrine had been designed to combat and which it had in fact defeated. In such circumstances there was just one thing to do. That was, to align them- selves with the United States. FAN-AMERICA AGAINST GERMANY So long as we remained neutral and on friendly terms with Germany, the South and Central American countries did the same. When we severed diplomatic relations with Germany, at the beginning of February, 1917, they did not indeed follow our example but they showed unmis- takably their sjnnpathy with it. Brazil took the lead. On February 6th Lauro MueUer, the Brazilian Foreign 283 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS Minister, himself of German origin, informed the German Government that Brazil could not recognize the validity of the submarine blockade and campaign against merchant shipping, but protested against it, and would hold Germany responsible for any acts involving Brazilian citizens or property which were contrary to international law or treaty rights. Chili, in which German commercial and financial influ- ences were particularly strong, assumed a similar attitude, even more tersely and emphatically expressed; reserving liberty of action for the protection of her citizens and their property. Argentina did the same, declaring that she would act at sea according to her fundamental rights and the principles of international law. Bolivia, Uruguay, Panama and Cuba issued similar notes. Peru specifically demanded reparation and indemnity for the sinking of one of her vessels by Germany; adding that she could not admit the resolution of which Germany had given notice, regarding it as opposed to international law and the legal rights of neutral nations. COURSE OF OTHER NEUTRALS Other neutral nations also strongly protested against Germany's announcement of unrestricted submarine war- fare. Spain declared that Germany's note ^'caused a very painful impression," and denounced it as "contrary to the principles observed by all nations even in moments of the greatest violence." Holland declared that her government was "obliged to object with extreme energy," and that she could see in the German pohcy "violation of the rights of nations, to say nothing of an attack upon the laws of humanit}^" Switzerland, the incarnation of neutrality and peace, 284 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS had no shipping to be menaced by submarines; but she was dependent for her imports upon the shipping of other nations, and she was also much interested in international law and in humanity. Therefore she promptly condemned Germany's policy as ''an attack upon the right of peaceful commerce/' and protested energetically against it. The three Scandinavian governments, of Sweden, Nor- way and Denmark, conferred together for a week, and then united in an identical note, protesting in the strongest manner against the policy which Germany had announced, and holding Germany responsible for any injury which their people might suffer through it. China, also, aligned herself with America and the other neutral powers in protesting energetically against Ger- many's course. She added that if Germany persisted in it, she would have to sever diplomatic relations with her, and would take such other action as might be necessary for the maintenance of the principles of international law. Thus practically the entire neutral world was arrayed on the side of America in her resistance to the arrogant, unlawful and immoral pretensions and menaces of the German Government. APPROVING OUR WAR DECLARATION Our declaration of war against Germany caused a wide- spread confirmation and intensification of that attitude. Brazil took the lead on April 11th in severing diplomatic relations with Germany, and the sentiment of her people in favor of the further step of war was unmistakably shown in great armed uprisings against the German residents of the southern states, which the government had difficulty in suppressing. Two days later Bolivia also severed rela- tions with Germany. 285 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS Argentina issued a note recognizing the justice of our course in declaring war against Germany because of the latter's violation of the principles of neutrality established by the rules of international law. Costa Rica made a similar declaration, and opened her ports to the free and unlimited use of our ships without the limitations usually imposed upon belligerent vessels in neutral ports. Uruguay approved the American declaration of war and described Germany's submarine warfare as "an insult to humanity." Paraguay expressed s^Tnpathy with the United States in its action, recognizing that this country had been "forced into war to rehabilitate the rights of neutrals." Panama, a protectorate of the United States, announced her readiness to assist this country in any way for the protection of the Isthmian Canal, while Cuba, another protectorate, squarely declared war against Germany. The other states were less outspoken, but not one of them expressed disapproval of our course or sympathy with Germany. A NEW AMERICAN ERA Although Chili contented herself for the time with a reaffirmation of neutrality and insistence upon neutral rights, one of her foremost statesmen was particularly outspoken in approving the course of the United States and in declaring that this country had therein the support of all Latin America. This was Dr. Alejandro Alvarez, formerly Counsellor of the Chilian Foreign Office and later Secretary-General of the American Institute of Inter- national Law. Speaking to a correspondent of The New York Times, he said: "The entry of the United States into the war marks a new phase, the more so since some of the Latin American 286 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS States have taken similar action and all the others have expressed themselves as unqualifiedly in sympathy with them. This support of Latin America can be explained as being an expression of gratitude for the aid given by the United States one hundred years ago, when the other American countries were winning their independence, as well as being the result of the solidarity of interests and of sentiment between the American States, which has shown itself especially during the course of the nine- teenth century. In view of this solidarity, there could be no doubt that the United States would have the support and sympathy of all the countries of Latin America. "The entry of the United States in the war marks, therefore, a new era because, unhke the States of Europe, the United States is not actuated by the desire of conquest or by the spirit of rivalry, but, as was well said by President Wilson, in defense of the rights of humanity. And in the defense of these rights the United States can count on the support and sjmipathy of all America. If during the last two and one-half years the United States has struggled in this war to defend neutral rights, today it is taking part in order to bring about important changes in the existing political and legal order, to reorganize the society of nations on a new basis, which will make that society more stable. And this basis is an American basis, which has been tested in our continent for the last hundred years and which has resulted in strengthening the bonds of friendship between all the American States, without creating the great rivalries which exist between the States of Europe." AFTER MANY YEARS It had been a full century since the Holy Alliance had begun its m^enace against American democracy. It had 287 PAN-AMERICA AND OTHERS been a hundred years less six since the culmination of that menace in the preparation for overt acts had roused this country to acceptance of the challenge and to the offering of resolute and militant defiance. That heroic assertion of American democracy had for a year evoked a glad and sympathetic response from all our southern neighbors. Then, in an hour of crassest folly, and for the sake of main- taining a national crime, we had repulsed that sympathy and alienated those whom we assumed to protect. In the fulness of time, and with the fitness of fate, the work of a century before was resumed, confirmed and perfected. Before the insolent menace of a league of autocracy, more reactionary and more hostile to the rights of nations and of men than was the unholy Holy Alliance at its unholiest estate, the democracy of America, North, Central, South and Insular, arose in resolute and harmonious union. 288 /-( \l ' ¥ 1 c 1^ 1 Q ATOZZJ £ iJ^tffOY ' ^ 66 6C^ f" 'Cf Ti^HS e&m tMu> Is ^ooomyr7j%^ ml Giant Guns — Their Muzzle-Energy, Proiectiles, and Penetrating Powers The British 13.5, which was known as the 12-inch-A until the "Lion" was launched, has a length of 45 calibers, and a muzzle-energy ten per cent greater than that of the 50-caliber 12-inch of 1909 and 1910. It may be noted that the caliber is the diameter of the bore of a gun. The statement that a gun has a length of 45 calibers, for example, implies that the gun's length is forty-five times the bore's diameter. Thus a 12-inch gun of 45 calibers is 45 feet long. Sapping and Mining the Enemy's Trenches. When the hostile trenches are near together an open zig-zag trench is dug to a point very close to the enemy's line, then a covered gallery ia excavated to a point almost imder the hostile trench. jRCANiSATiON OF DEFEHCSS BY JOINING CRATER VViTM SHfcLL-HOLE: ,^.i*.-A.A LIP OF CRATER r\ SECTION or CAIUERY. Gaining a Foot of Geound Pes Hour. Here a charge of explosive is placed and fired from a distance by an electric wire. At the same instant the men charge over the ground and occupy the ruined trench of the enemy. (II. L. News copr.) c5 Ol O o rr>, o a r^ c Uj a -!-, Ph cii C3_D ^- 03 '^H w O z < "S s 'o n « o ^3 cu 03 rj &+3 < tC QJ c3 O bH »— I i;.ry->!'K' a o S C B a TO O O HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED times they merely cause a stifling or a weeping sufficient to prevent the men from fighting but without fatal re- sults. Armored and artil- lery-armed automobile cars have been much used in battle, capable of driving over ditches and through walls and fences, and impervious to all but the heaviest artillery fire. Trench warfare has been developed as never before. Instead of a mere ditch and em- bankment running along the front of the army, there is now an elaborate network of ditches covering a vast extent of country, with tunnels and dormito- ries, dining rooms and kitchens many feet below the surface of the ground. Many of these excavations are lined with concrete walls and are floored Section of Parapet in Loose Soil Trench Enlarged to Help Passage of Men mm\m Standing Trench not Screened ^ - -«i - -X- - 3 - -> I'S FEET COMMAND ^i SCREENEDTRENCH Screened Standing Trench Felled Tree Obstacle, Branches Pointing Outward •w 295 HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED with planking, and supplied with water, heating and lighting systems. HIGH POWER RIFLES The old-fashioned musket went to the scrap heap long ago. The modern soldier is armed with a repeating rifle capable of killing a man at a distance of three miles. Indeed, the pistol of today has a longer effective range than the musket of a century ago. Machine guns of various types, some of them capable of discharging scores of bullets in a minute, are largely ^M- ■■ <- 3. - 4<- 3_ ,yf. -3. . -:^ . ' • ' ■ J r'^''! - — — — - •'• — m I FOOT COMMAND Lyinq-down Trench Standing Trench without Screen, but WITH Low Parapet for Concealment used; some of them so compact as to be used by a single man after the manner of an ordinary rifle. THE HOSPITAL SERVICE Happily, the ways and means of saving life have not lagged behind those of destroying it. The Japanese set an example to the world of sanitary and hospital efliciency in their war with Russia, which other nations have been prompt to emulate. The Red Cross and other organiza- tions have developed a service for the wounded that is comparable with the fighting efficiency of the army. In our Civil War more men died in hospitals from wounds than on the field of battle. Today the deaths in hospitals are insignificant in number. 296 HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED THE CHANGE OF UNIFORM The present war emphasizes more strongly than ever one of the ways in which we have learned the art of war from the lower orders of the animal creation. That is not in simple destructiveness, in what we call brute force. We have had no need to emulate the fury of the tiger or the shark. Human nature supplied it without effort or study. But in the most subtle adjuncts to ac- tual slaughter, and in those which most im- phcate some of the most delicate and com- plex scientific processes, we have learned much from quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes and in- sects. The German army in the field is wearing what is described as the most effective uniform ever devised in the world. Its effective- ness is both offensive and defensive, and is due entirely to its color, which is a greenish-yellowish gray, which blends so perfectly with the prevailing color-tone of the landscape as to render the troops invisible, or at least indistinguish- able, even at so short a distance as half a mile or less. The same end was aimed at by the American, British and other armies some years ago in the adoption of ''khaki" colored cloths, but it was not attained as perfectly as by the Ger- mans, because that color was selected empirically, or perhaps 297 Emplacement for MAcraNE Gunb HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED Simple Gun Pit Sandbags Habtt Intrenchments for Field Artillery Hasty Gun Pit Protected at Front Sides m we should say tradition- ally, seeing what its un- pleasant origin was, while that of the German uniforms is the result of painstaking scientific study and experiment. LEARNING FROM ANIMALS In this, man is, of course, merely imitating the natural gifts of the humbler members of creation. Naturalists have long been familiar with the varied and im- portant uses of color in the scheme of animate creation, and have real- ized that of those uses the cryptic is by far the most common and prob- ably the most important in the struggle for exist- ence. Cryptic color- ation is employed both in attack and in defense, and is commonly asso- ciated with other qual- ities, such as speed, agility and strength. Those animals which are most perfectl}^ con- HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED cealed by their coloring generally show, when discovered, great speed in flight, as the rabbit; or great strength and fury in defense or attack, as the tiger. Pro-cryptic color- ing, for concealment for purposes of safety and defense, widely prevails among small animals and insects, and is far SAND BAGS fe Deliberate Intrenchments for Field Artillery WHEN Depression is Necessary for Concealment more common than the anti-cryptic coloring which facil- itates aggression and attack; since creatures which are preyed upon are more numerous than those which prey upon them. THE PURPOSE OF DISGUISE In the vast majority of cases all these colorings have for their object precisely the same object as the assumption of ''khaki" by our soldiers has: The dual object, of con- cealing the wearer from the enemy and of enabhng the wearer to get close to the prey before being perceived. 299 HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED Profile of a Hill m, c is the "military crest," though c is higher. GtJN Pit on Crest of a Hill This object has become more and more important with the changes in armament which have enabled fighting to be done efficiently at long range. When the combat was Q hand to hand, with sword or battle-axe, the color of armor or dress mattered httle. When the rifleman can kill his foe at a distance of two miles or more, it does matter much. So it has come to pass that cryptic coloring of uniforms is one of the very latest developments of mili- tary science. NO MORE " ARMY BLUE " At the present time the American army wears as a service uni- form cloth of an olive- drab hue, which is commonly called ''kha- ki" though it is really not of that peculiar color, but is much lighter than it. Khaki, which was adopted as the service color of the British army in and after the Boer War, had a peculiar origin. The word is the name of a Hindoo sect of Vishnuites, founded by Kil, a disciple of Krishna Das, has reference to the practice 300 Simple Type op Hasty Gun Pit HOW MODERN WARS ARE WAGED of those religionists of sprinkling their clothing and their faces with the ashes of dried and burned cowdung. The color of those unsavory ashes is ''khaki." It is interesting to observe that while it is of Indian origin, uniforms of that color are not worn by the native Indian army, unless in some regiments of the British contingent; but the strong and showy colors of the old style dress are adhered to. This is doubtless in large part because of an unwilling- ness of the other sects and creeds thus to identify or asso- ciate themselves with the Khaki sect. GERMAN AND FRENCH CONTRAST In Germany, as we have seen, the spectroscope and all manner of scientific devices have been brought into use to ascertain precisely what combination of tints conforms most perfectly to the general hue of the average landscape. Never was so much attention paid to the analysis of the spectrum of comet or star as to this problem in military cryptic coloring. Most other armies have approximated to the same system. Russia has an inconspicuous green- gray service uniform, and Italy one of a neutral bluish gray. France alone ignores the scheme and sticks defiantly to the blue tunic and red trousers of her former wars. Whether in so doing she has placed herself at a disadvantage in this war remains to be declared. Nothing to that effect has yet been heard. And of course it will not escape remem- brance that in the animal world there are, both in aggression and in defense, some noteworthy exceptions to the rule of cryptic coloring. 301 Chapter XXV WOMEN AND WAR WORK ffistorical Examples of Women in War — Unexampled Interest of Women in the Present Struggle — Women's Work for Relief of Suffering and for National Preparedness — Employment in Various Industries — The Scarcity of Food — Enormous Increase of Exports and Diminution of Supplies — Proposals for Relief — Conservation and Increased Production the Natural Methods — The Work of Housewives for the Saving of Food — A Notable Example — The President's Proclamation to the People — Garden Work and Kitchen Economy Urged — Notable Response by the Women of America to the Call of Duty. "THE FEMALE of the species/' wrote Kipling, "is more deadly than the male." In poetic fashion he proved his point, and with him both nature and history measurably agree. We are not without striking examples of the effi- cient heroism of women in warfare, even in actual conflict on the field of battle. The fancies of Spenser and Ariosto have justification in the facts of Boadicea and Zenobia and Jeanne d'Arc. Even in our own age we have the plain but inspiring record of ''Sergeant Molly" Pitcher, and we know that in the Balkan War of 1912 hundreds of Macedonian women marched and fought in the ranks by the side of their brothers and husbands. It would have been by no means surprising if the present war had at an early date summoned to service a whole army of vengeful Amazons, for surely never was there one which so unspeakably outraged womanhood in all its capacities. The truthful tale of German ravishings, tor- tures, mutilations and murders of women in Belgium and 302 WOMEN AND WAR WORK northern France, told from German soldiers' own state- ments and confessions, and of the wholesale deportation of young women and girls from those countries into Ger- many, to be enslaved for the vilest uses, and all this done not in the hot passion of battle but by the deliberate, cold, calculated order of the most exalted dignitaries of the Imperial Government — this forms a chapter in history beside which Cawnpore seems clean and Sioux and Apache massacres seem merciful. Promptly at the outbreak of the war in Europe the women of America organized themselves in vast numbers for two major purposes. One was for the relief of the war sufferers in European lands. The appeal to them to do this was especially strong for the reason already suggested — the unprecedented extent to which women and children were made to be direct sufferers from and victims of the war. The greater part of the relief work which was done by this country on so large a scale was due to the energy and devotion of women; in the Red Cross and in many special organizations. WOMEN AND PREPAREDNESS The other great purpose which animated the women of America, even before this country became involved in the war, was that of promoting our national preparedness. The nauseous doggerel of a one-time ''popular" song, ''I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier," was righteously resented by the wom^en of America, who had no thought of suckling cowards, and in innumerable multitudes they thronged forward into patriotic organizations intended to urge universal military training and service and to provide the essential adjuncts thereto which women can best supply. 303 WOMEN AND WAR WORK WOMEN IN INDUSTRY Great Britain and other European countries had set the example of women's engaging in agricultural and other industries, to take the places of men who had gone to fight. In the cities women were successfully employed as elevator operators, street car conductors, and in many other occupa- tions, beside places in munition works and other factories in which men had formerly been employed. In the country women successfully practiced gardening and agriculture. In the United States women have begun to prepare themselves for such tasks, if it should be necessary for them to undertake them. Particularly have they undertaken farm and garden work, for of that there is actual, impera- tive and widespread need. At the time of the declaration of war it was realized that the country was on the verge of something almost approximating famine. Scanty crops here, and unprecedented demands for food supplies abroad, caused us to be confronted with a condition which demanded that in 1917 every available acre and square rod of ground should be made to produce the largest possible crop. THE INCREASE IN FOOD EXPORTS The enormous increase in exports of foodstuffs of various kinds, and the consequent depletion of our domestic reserve, may be realized from a review of data given by the Depart- ment of Commerce at Washington : 1914 Exports. 1916 Exports. Increase. Bacon (lbs.) 193,964,252 579,808,786 385,844,534 Barley (bu.) 6,644,747 27,473,160 20,828,413 Beans and dried peas (bu.). . 314,655 1,760,383 1,445,728 Beef, canned (lbs.) 3,464,733 50,416,690 46,951,957 Beef, fresh (lbs.) 6,394,404 231,215,075 224,820,671 Buckwheat (bu.) 580 515,304 514,724 Butter (lbs.) 3,693,597 13,503,279 9,809,682 304 WOMEN AND WAR WORK 1914 Exports. 1916 Exj^orts. Increase. Cheese (lbs.) 2,427,577 44,394,251 41,966,674 Corn (bu.) 9,380,855 38,217,012 28,836,157 Cornmeal (bbl.) 336,241 419,979 83,738 Cottonseed meal (lbs.) 799,974,252 1,057,921,569 257,947,317 Cottonseed oil (lbs.) 192,963,079 266,529,960 73,566,881 Eggs (doz.) 16,148,849 26,396,206 10,247,357 Hams and shoulders (lbs.)... 165,881,791 282,208,611 116,326,820 Milk, condensed (lbs.) 16,209,082 155,734,322 139,525,240 Mutton (lbs.) 4,685,496 5,552,918 867,422 Oatmeal (lbs.) 15,998,286 54,748,747 38,750,461 Oats (bu.) 1,859,949 95,921,620 94,061,671 Peaches, dried (lbs.) 6,712,296 13,739,342 7,020,046 Pork, canned (lbs.) 3,074,303 9,610,732 6,536,429 Pork, fresh (lbs.) 2,668,020 63,005,524 60,337,504 Potatoes, extra sweet (bu.) . . 1,794,073 4,017,760 2,223,687 Raisins (lbs.) 14,766,416 75,014,753 60,248,337 Rice (lbs.) 18,223,264 120,695,213 102,471,949 Rye (bu.) 2,222,934 14,532,437 12,309,503 Sahnon, canned (lbs.) 87,750,920 152,951,962 65,201,042 Sugar, refined (lbs.) 50,895,726 1,630,150,863 1,579,255,137 Wheat (bu.) 92,303,775 173,374,015 80,880,240 Wheat flour (bbl.) 11,821,461 15,520,669 3,699,208 SHORTAGE IN 1916 Now the fact that we were able to increase our exports so enormously did not mean that we had correspondingly increased our production. It meant that there were excep- tionally large harvests in 1914 which left a great surplus on our hands, which we were able to send abroad in 1916. The fact is that in 1916, because of bad weather and other causes, our production was much decreased from the average of the preceding years, so that our surplus stocks were depleted, and the nation was confronted with potential scarcity of the severest kind. Here are the official figures showing the decrease in 1916: 20 305 WOMEN AND WAR WORK Average Production Production 1910-1914. 1916. Shortage. Excess. Wheat 728,225,000 639,886,000 88,339,000 Corn 2,732,457,000 2,583,241,000 149,216,000 Oats 1,157,961,000 1,251,992,000 94,031,000 Barley 186,208,000 180,927,000 5,281,000 Rye 37,568,000 47,383,000 9,815,000 Buckwheat 17,022,000 11,840,000 5,182,000 Rice 24,378,000 41,982,000 17,604,000 Potatoes 360,772,000 285,437,000 75,335,000 There was also a marked decrease in the quantity of food supplies in cold storage warehouses throughout the United States, as these figures show: ' March 1, 1917. Cheese, American (lbs.) 9,499,466 Eggs, eases (30 doz.) 4,759 Lard (lbs.) 76,389,599 Lamb and mutton (lbs.) 4,007,465 Frozen pork (lbs.) 55,926,367 PROPOSALS FOR RELIEF This undoubtedly serious state of affairs called for prompt action for relief, and various plans were proposed. Some urged an embargo on foodstuffs, but they were chiefly German sympathizers or Germans themselves in disguise. It was obvious that such a procedure would mean ruin to the Allies and the triumph of Germany; and that was not to be thought of, at any rate after we had ourselves entered the war as the opponent of Germany and as an ally of the Allies. Others suggested government seizure, control and dis- tribution of all supphes of food; but that was obviously 306 March 1, Per Cent 1916. Decrease. 13,373,424 29.3 34,761 86.3 111,897,182 31.7 5,812,144 31.1 88,603,621 36.9 WOMEN AND WAR WORK an extreme measure which should be resorted to only in case of the most dire necessity. The two measures which were most obvious, most natural, and most desirable, and which, indeed, gave greatest promise of being effective, were these: that we should economically conserve our existing supplies and that we should seek to increase our products to the greatest possible degree; and these were measures in which the active co-operation of women was indispensable. THE CONSERVATION OF FOOD The Secretary of Agriculture was recently quoted as saying that American families had been wasting $700,000,- 000 worth of food in their kitchens every year. Thoughtful observers and investigators were inclined to think that he underestimated rather than overestimated the amount. The complaint was not that Americans ate too much, or too good, food, but that they wasted too much. They had wasteful methods of purchasing, of cooking, and of serving, and they threw too much of the perfectly good surplus from their meals into the garbage cans instead of utilizing it for subsequent meals. It was a phase of our characteristic and proverbial American profligacy — the same profligacy in resources which caused more first-class lumber to be destroyed in the cutting and by forest fires than was sent to market. This was obviously an evil to be corrected chiefly by the women, who were the housekeepers and cooks, and who could therefore check such waste. How readily a reform in that respect could be effected was strikingly shown in New York City, where in the week following an appeal by the Mayor for greater carefulness in the use of food, there was a very large percentage of reduction of the number 307 WOMEN AND WAR WORK of tons of garbage collected. That simply meant that so many tons of perfectly good food had been saved for sub- sequent meals instead of being thrown away, and also that housekeepers had gauged their requirements more accurately and had thus had smaller surpluses to dispose of. WORK ON THE FARMS The need of increasing the productiveness of our farms was so pressing that President Wilson on April 14th issued a special address to the people of the nation on the subject, in which he said : ''I take the Hberty of addressing this word to the farmers of the country and to all who work on the farms: The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we are co-operating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. The importance of an ade- quate food supply, especially for the present year, is super- lative. Without abundant food, ahke for the armies and the peoples now at war, the whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail. The world's food reserves are low. Not only during the present emergency, but for some time after peace shall have come, both our own people and a large proportion of the people of Europe must rely upon the harvests in America. ''Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure rests the fate of the war and the fate of the nations. May the nation not count upon them to omit no step that will increase the production of their land or that will bring about the most effectual co-operation in the sale and dis- tribution of their products? The time is short. It is of the most imperative importance that everything possible be done, and done immediately, to make sure of large harvests. I call upon young men and old alike and upon 308 WOMEN AND WAR WORK the able-bodied boys of the land to accept and act upon this duty — to turn in hosts to the farms and make certain that no pains and no labor is lacking in this great matter. THE GARDEN AND THE KITCHEN ^'Let me suggest, also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation. This is the time for America to correct her unpardonable fault of waste- fulness and extravagance. Let every man and every woman assume the duty of careful, provident use and expen- diture as a public duty, as a dictate of patriotism which no one can now expect ever to be excused or forgiven for ignoring." SPECIAL APPEAL TO WOMEN To this the Secretary of Agriculture added this appeal : ''Every woman can render important service to the nation in its present emergency. She need not leave her home nor abandon her home duties to help the armed forces. She can help to feed and clothe our armies, and help to supply food to those beyond the seas, by practicing effective thrift in her own household. ''Every ounce of food the housewife saves — all food which she or her children produce and preserve — every garment which repair makes it unnecessary to replace — all lessen tke draft on the insufficient world suppUes. MUST NOT WASTE FOOD "To save food the housewife must learn to plan economi- cal and properly balanced meals, which, while nourishing each m^ember of the family properly, do not encourage 309 WOMEN AND WAR WORK overeating or offer excessive and wasteful variety. It is her duty to protect food from spoilage by heat, dirt, mice or insects; she must acquire the cuHnary ability to utilize every bit of edible food that comes into her home; she must learn to use such foods as vegetables, beans, peas and milk products as partial substitutes for meat, and she must see that nothing nutritious is wasted. "Waste in any household may seem to be insignificant, but if only a single ounce of edible food, on the average, is allowed to spoil or to be thrown away in each of our 20,000,000 homes, over 1,300,000 pounds of material would be wasted each day. It takes the fruit of many acres and the work of many people, to raise, prepare and distribute 464,000,000 pounds of food a year. Every ounce of food thrown away, therefore, tends also to waste the labor of an army of busy citizens. URGED TO DROP FASHION ''Clothing is largely an agricultural product, and repre- sents the results of labor on the sheep ranges, in cotton fields and in mills and factories. Whenever a useful gar- ment is needlessly discarded material needed to keep some one warm or dry may be consumed merely to gratify a passing fancy. Women would do well to look upon clothing at this time more particularly from the utilitarian point of view. ENCOURAGE THRIFT! ''While all honor is due the women who leave their homes to nurse and care for those wounded in battle, no woman should feel that because she does not wear a nurse's uniform she is absolved from patriotic service. The home women of the country, if they will give their minds fully 310 WOMEN AND WAR WORK to this vital subject of food conservation and train them- selves in household thrift, can make of the housewife's apron a uniform of national significance. "Demonstrate thrift in your homes and encourage thrift among your neighbors. ''Make saving rather than spending your social standard. "Make economy fashionable lest it become obligatory." The response of the American people, and particularly of American women, to this appeal was prompt and grati- fying. Women not merely practiced economy in the kitchens, but thousands of them undertook the cultivation of gardens, while the men, released from that task, gave themselves to the heavier farm*, work. It was estimated that in Great Britain 2,000,000 women were doing work formerly done by men. It seems not unlikely that in the United States almost as large a proportion of women are at least engaging in special and unaccustomed labor of some kind in order to "do their bit" toward sustaining the nation and assuring its victory in the great war. 311 Chapter XXVI ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION Origin and Development of Our Military Arm — The Present Chief Officers — The Secretary of War and General Staff — Various Departments of the Army — The Infantry Organization — How the Cavalry is Organized — The Artillery Service — The Militia, Organized and Unorganized — Military Schools and Train- ing Camps — The American Navy — Composition of a Standard Fleet — Organiza- tion of the Navy Department — Its Various Bureaus — The Naval Militia — The Marines, the "Soldiers of the Sea." "ARMS AND THE MAN!" The army and navy are, after aU, the center of interest in time of war. It is they that do the actual fighting. Let us see how they are composed, organized, commanded, and employed. The army of the United States was created by the Conti- nental Congress, and at the close of the Revolution its strength w^as fixed at one regiment of infantry of twelve companies, and one regiment of artillery of four companies, a grand total of 1,216 officers and men. The next year, 1791, an additional infantry regiment of 900 men was authorized. In 1798 a provisional force of 10,000 was raised in view of the danger of war with France, but it was disbanded two years later. Another such force was raised for the War of 1812 and was"disbanded at its close. A regiment of dragoons was authorized in 1833, and two more in 1836, and ten years later, at the outbreak of the Mexican war, the army con- tained 7,244 men. During that war it was increased to 20,000, but at the end of the war it was reduced to its former size, with the addition of one regiment of mounted rifles. Two regiments of infantry and two of cavalry were added in 312^ ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION 1855, and at the outbreak of the Civil War the army had a line strength of 12,931 officers and men, and a total in all departments of 16,367. The greatest increase of the regular army in the Civil War was on January 1, 1863, when the total number was 25,463. There was a gradual decline until at the end of the war the number was 21,669. In August, 1876, Congress fixed its maximum strength at 25,000 enlisted men. On January 1, 1893, it contained 28,502 officers and men. At the beginning of the European war, in the summer of 1914, it consisted of 4,701 officers and 87,781 men. Deducting the quartermaster and hospital corps, the coast artillery, practically stationary in coast defense works, and some others, there remained a mobile army, for field work, of 2,935 officers and 51,446 men. In the navy there were 52,667 enlisted men. The authorized strength of the army was considerably greater than the actual strength, many of the organizations being below their full strength. ARMY DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICERS For many years before our war with Germany the Conti- nental United States had been divided into four military departments, the Eastern, Central, Southern and Western, with headquarters respectively at New York, Chicago, Fort Sam Houston (Texas), and San Francisco. But in March, 1917, just on the verge of our entry into war, the President ordered the division of the Eastern Department into three, known as the Eastern, Northeastern and Southeastern, with headquarters respectively at New York, Boston and Charleston, S. C, thus making six in aU. At that time the army was under the command of the fol- lowing general officers, the dates affixed to their names being those on which they were promoted to their respective ranks: 313 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION MAJ0R-GENERA.L8 Wood, Leonard Aug. 8, 1903 Bell, J. FrankUn Jan. 3, 1907 Barry, Thomas H April 29, 1908 Funston, Frederick Nov. 17, 1914 Scott, Hugh L April 30, 1915 Bliss, Tasker H Nov. 20, 1913 Pershing, John J Sept. 25, 1916 BRIGADIER-GENERALS Edwards, Clarence R May 12, 1912 Parker, James Feb. 12, 1913 Liggett, Hunter Feb. 12, 1913 Davis, Thomas F May 16, 1913 Bailey, Charles J Oct. 10, 1913 Bell, George, Jr July 17, 1914 Greene, Henry A Nov. 19, 1914 Mann, WiUiam A Jan. 20, 1915 Strong, Frederick S .' May 4, 1915 Hodges, Harry F Mar. 4, 1915 Morrison, John F Nov. 20, 1915 Plummer, Edward H July 1, 1916 Townsley, Clarence P July 1, 1916 Morton, Charles G July 14, 1916 Ruckman, John W July 20, 1916 Sibert, William L Mar. 4, 1916 Swift, Eben Sept. 29, 1916 French, Francis H Sept. 30, 1916 Greble, Edwin St. J Oct. 13, 1916 Treat, Charles G Oct. 18, 1916 The General Staff Corps comprised a large number of colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors and captains, and the following general officers; the dates given being those of their appointments to the corps: MAJOR-GENERAL, CHIEF OF STAFF Scott, Hugh L Nov. 17, 1914 314 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION Major-Generals Bliss, Tasker H Feb. 15, 1915 Weaver, Erasmus M. (Chief of Coast Artil- lery) Mar. 15, 1911 Brigadier-General Mann, William A. (Chief of Militia Bureau) Oct. 26, 1916 The adjutant-general, with rank of brigadier-general, was Henry P. McCain; the inspector-general, with rank of briga- dier-general, was John L. Chamberlain; the judge advocate- general, with rank of brigadier-general, was Enoch H. Crow- der; the quartermaster-general, with rank of major-general, was Henry G. Sharpe; the surgeon-general, with rank of major-general, was William C. Gorgas; the chief of engineers, with rank of brigadier-general, was William M. Black; the chief of ordnance, with rank of brigadier-general, was Wil- liam Crozier; the chief signal officer, with rank of brigadier- general, was George 0. Squier; and the chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, with rank of brigadier-general, was Frank Mclntyre. OUR MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT Under the Constitution of the United States the President is the commander-in-chief of the army. The immediate direction of the War Department is vested in a secretary of war, the second member of the Cabinet, who is responsible solely to the President. Under him is an assistant secretary, who takes his place in his absence. In the absence of both the secretary and the assistant, the functions of the place are assumed by the chief of staff for not more than thirty days, by direction of the President. The General Staff was created by Act of Congress in Feb- ruary, 1903, on the recommendation of Elihu Root, then 315 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION secretary of war. It is the expert military advisory board to the President and the Secretary' of War. Its members are employed in the study of mihtary problems, the prepara- tion of plans for the national defense, the utilization of the various army organizations in time of war, etc. It is ulti- mately, by July 1, 1920, to consist of fifty-five officers. VARIOUS ARMY DEPARTMENTS The Adjutant-General's Department is the medium through which all^orders of the War Department are issued, and all regulations for the control of the army; in which all records are kept; and through which all correspondence is conducted. The Inspector-General's Department is charged with the careful inspection of all parts of the army, the Military Academy, hospitals, transports, cemeteries, and in fact every detail of the entire military establishment, and of reporting upon their condition and making recommendations for their maintenance and improvement.- • The Judge Advocate-General's Department is the law bureau of the military estabhshment, and has custody and supervision of the records of all general courts- martial, courts of inquiry and military commissions, and also of the titles of land held by the War Department. The Quartermaster-General's Department has charge of all barracks, storehouses and other buildings; ships, rail- roads and transportation generally; horses, mules, wagons, etc.; clothing and camp and garrison equipment; food and forage; and the distribution of funds for payment of the army. The Surgeon-General's Department is the medical corps of the army, having'charge of^sanitation, hospitals, transpor- tation and care of the sick and wounded, etc. Its members 316 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION are unarmed, and are protected from harm by international agreement. The Engineering Corps is charged with surveying sites for camps and fortifications and the construction of defensive works, the laying out and making of roads, the erection of buildings, bridges, piers, etc., and river and harbor improve- ments. The Ordnance Department has the task of providing all the munitions of war, from pistols and rifles to the largest cannon, tools, machinery, harness and other equipments. It also provides the small arms for the Navy Department. It has, of course, charge of the arsenals. The Signal Corps, under the chief signal officer, constructs, maintains and operates all telegraph and cable Hues, tele- phones, radiographic plants, hehographs, and all other means of communication. The Bureau of Insular Affairs has jurisdiction over Porto Rico and the Phihppines. INFANTRY ORGANIZATION The great body of an army consists of infantry. In the United States army an infantry regiment is composed as follows, when its ranks are full: One colonel, 1 lieutenant-colonel, 4 medical officers, and 1 chaplain; a headquarters company, including the band, color sergeants, etc., numbering 59; a machine gun company, of 57; a supply company, comprising wagoners, numbering 39; and three battalions of four companies each. The battalions are numbered first, second and third. The companies are designated by the letters of the alphabet, A, B, C and D companies being in the first, E, F, G and H in the second, and I, K, L and M in the third battahon. Each company has a captain, first heutenant, second lieu- 317 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION Column IT 1 MOO L 10 %*• a'o I I I soo eoo /*^| laoo J 1 1t C«*«lrT* tM4 on* DMMlufmt tatiMvi HTrewCtnkr lu b/. Iw I B>. TweC«» Caj1a*«r» MU.u4DO.Hdv>. tenant, first sergeant, mess ser- geant, supply sergeant, 6 sergeants, 11 corporals, 2 cooks, 2 buglers, 1 mechanic, 19 first-class privates, and 56 privates, making 103 in all. The entire regiment thus contains 1,404 officers and men. That is the peace footing.] In time of war there are added 21 to the machine gun company, and 50 to each of the twelve com- panies in the battalions, or 221, raising the war strength of a reg- iment to 1,625. Each infantryman carries a pack, rifle, ammunition and ra- tions, weighing in all about forty- five pounds. The various units of an army are as follows, with their compo- sition and commander: Squad, composed of 8 men, commanded by a corporal; platoon, 40 to 50 men, lieutenant or sergeant; com_ pany, 2 to 4 platoons, captain. StooItT™!.— ***0 r)u>i MAIN BODY * fUM Arfflt.n' ^lod. C A, M«n.T Conn, Of eoo I On. Ambal.Bc. Co. r.ntn / On* Anibal|B >o/ (-«0 350/ I ^0 9V> / lOOO )iiBO leoM j?9eO 9 This Diagram, Drawn to Scale, Shows the Length op jRoad Occupied BY the Various Units of a Division of 20,000 Men on the March in the Presence of the Enemy 318 ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION battalion, 4 companies, major; regiment, 3 battalions, col- onel; brigade, 3 regiments, brigadier-general; division, 3 brigades, major-general; army corps, 2 or more divisions, lieutenant-general; army, 2 or more army corps, general. CAVALRY ORGANIZATION A cavalry regiment has a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, chaplain,. 4 medical officers and 2 veterinarians; a head- quarters troop of 55, raised to 86 in war; a machine gun troop of 74, raised to 95 in war; a supply troop of 50, raised to 54 in war; and three squadrons of four troops each, the squadrons and .troops being designated by numbers and let- ters corresponding with those of battalions and companies of infantry. Each squadron is commanded by a major and each troop by a captain. Each troop comprises 73 officers and men, increased to 108 in war. Thus the peace strength of a cavalry regiment when its ranks are full is 1,070 and its war strength 1,546 officers and men. THE ARTILLERY SERVICE The field artillery includes mountain, hght, horse and heavy artillery. Each regiment consists of six batteries, with guns or howitzers all of the same or of different calibers. The standard heavy field artillery of our army consists of 4.7-inch guns and 6-inch howitzers. We have no monster siege howitzers such as Germany has been so effectively using. The hght artillery uses 3-inch guns and 3.8-inch howitzers. Larger pieces have been designed and are in course of manufacture. The coast artillery has both fixed and movable batteries, using guns of from 3 to 12 inches and mortars of 12*inches caUber. Guns of 14 and 16 inches have been designed, and 319 A H M \ A N D N A V Y O R G A X I Z A T I O X a few made. The pemvan^it fxMtiticiations at the principal port$ ««npri<^ direet fiiv rifies, la«^^' mounted on di<«iv p^sarin^: carnages: nK^nai^ tor high angle lirv: and :j^ub- marizie mines for unde^ water attack upon hostile ves!S>el^ THE MIUTIA Tbe miliua oon5dsTi> of all the sble-bodied maio oitiiens of tfce BaitkHi beiwven the ages of eighteen and fort y-tiw. That was the purport lled. aiKl T nided at his own expense with anns, anmiuni- tkm, V...... ..:; and other e>i?ential equi^^ient. This law was nevw pioperij' «iforotxi, and soon fell into desuetude, and tlie l«m *'mil::ia " came to be applied solely to thos^ mem- bers of the militia who oiganiied themselves into regimentsi. technically known as the National Guard. Each state had it;s own national guard s\^tem. it^ go\-emor being comman- d»4n-chief, and these troops were used principally for s«ippi>e!$3Uig serious riots^ etc., within their respecti\'e state& An act c^ Congress in June, 1916. p^o^-ided for a radical iiici«fede and reorganiratKA of this organiied militia. It was to be incnesased in numbers fnoan about IIO.CW) to 42o.OOO. and was to be **fed«:ali«ed" as a j>art of the land forces of the nam^. It was placed under the jurisdiction of the MiK- tia Bureau erf the W^ir Department : and while in ordinary times it was to remain as before under the command Captain Commander of Battleship or Cruiser. Commander In command of second or third-class ships or special duty on board first-class ship. Lieutenant-Commander. . , . .Commands fourth-class ship or special duty. Lieutenant Assigned to command of a department of first-class ship or subordinate duty on smaller ship. Lieutenant (Junior Grade) . . . Junior Officer assigned to special duty. Ensign Junior Officer assigned to special duty. Midshipman Naval Academy Student. Chief Warrant Officer In charge of department of ship. jj Warrant Officer In charge of department of ship. 4| Mate In charge of special department of ship. Chief Petty Officer In charge of small department. Petty Officer, first class In charge of group of seamen or special duty. Petty Officer, second class . . . Same as first class. Petty Officer, third class .... Same as first class. Seaman, first class Performs duties assigned by Officers. Seaman, second class Performs duties assigned by Officers. Seaman, third class Performs duties assigned by Officers. 326 Chaptee XXVII UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE No "Peace at Any Price" Advocates Among the Founders of the Republic — The Volunteer System Discredited and Repudiated at the Very Beginning and Again in Every War We Have Ever Waged — Washington's Condemnation of the Volunteer Mihtia System — Its Disastrous Effects in the Revolution — Jefferson's Earnest Advocacy of Universal Mihtary Training and Service — Disgraceful Results of the MiUtia System in the War of 1812 — Why the Traditional Policy of Washington and Jefferson Was Abandoned — Universal Service the True Demo- cratic System — Examples in Switzerland and Other RepubUcs — Advantages of the System for the United States — The Duty of the Citizen to Serve the State in Either Peace or War. "I DIDN'T Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" was not a popular song among the founders of the American Republic. The mothers of 1776 were proud and glad with a fearful gladness to buckle sword-belts about their sons and send them forth to battle with their blessing. The statesmen who resisted the misgovernment of the Mother Country and pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the achievement and maintenance of our national independence, were not behevers in ''peace at any price." The true spirit of America, the only spirit that could have made America a nation, the only spirit that can be worthy of the successors of those devoted men, was voiced in Henry's famiHar words: ''Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God!" That was and is the "tradi- tional spirit" of America. Washington, addressing the Congress of the young republic, on January 8, 1790, said: "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." 3?7 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE FAILURE OF UNTRAINED VOLUNTEERS Washington's meaning was that there should be universal military training and universal military service. He spoke from bitter personal experience. Again and again he testified, in the Revolution, in the ''times that tried men's souls," that the greatest difficult}^ with which he had to contend was not the British Government, nor the German levies. No: but the untrained militia of which Jiis army was so largely composed. Again and again he declared that he would actually be better off and have a stronger army without them. That was not because they were not good patriots and brave men. No; but because they were not trained soldiers. Loyalty and valor are not sufficient. There must be knowledge of arms and of tactics; there must be discipline and obedience; there must be such familiarity with war as will assure steadiness of nerves in the presence of the enemy; there must be the physical training which will enable men to endure the fatigues of campaign and battle. Without these qualities troops are ineffective, and to send them into battle is to imperil them far more than the enemy. This latter point was repeatedly emphasized by Wash- ington, who declared that it was nothing short of criminal to send untrained militiamen into battle against dis- ciplined and expert soldiers. The same conviction was expressed by Washington's close friend and com- rade in arms, ''Light Horse Harry" Lee, when he said: "That government is a murderer of its citizens which sends them to the field uninformed and un- taught, where they are to meet men of the same age and strength, mechanized by education and discipline for battle." 328 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE THE POLICY OF WASHINGTON Washington left us in no doubt as to what he meant by being prepared for war. He meant compulsory universal military training and compulsory universal military service. This was made clear at the very beginning of his adminis- tration. It was in his first annual message or address to Congress, and at the beginning of that address, that he uttered the words already quoted. He said: ''Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies." There was the whole gospel of preparedness and effi- ciency epitomized in a single sentence. But he did not stop with that. So important did this man — who was first in peace as well as in war — consider the project of universal preparation and service that only thirteen days later he sent to Congress a special message on the subject, urging immediate action and presenting a plan for adoption. This plan was Washington's own, though he modestly gave credit for it to his Secretary of War, General Knox. It provided that all able-bodied male citizens, with certain specified exemptions for cause, should be enrolled by con- scription for military duty. They were to be divided into three classes. Those from 18 to 20 years of age were to form the advanced corps, or first line of battle; those from 21 to 45 were to form the main corps; and those from 45 to 60 were to form the reserve. 329 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE SERVICE ESSENTIAL TO CITIZENSHIP It was an integral and essential part of this plan that service should be a prerequisite of complete citizenship. Unless specially exempted for cause, no man was to be permitted to vote or hold office of any kind unless he had served his term with the colors. Having served in the advanced corps for three years, on attaining the age of twenty-one the young man was to be received into full citizenship; but if he had not thus served, he was to be excluded from office and from the polls. This was Wash- ington's conception of the functions of the advanced corps : ''The advanced corps are designed not only as a school in which the youth of the United States are to be instructed in the art of war, but they are, in all cases of exigence, to serve as an actual defense of the community. The whole of the armed corps shall be clothed, armed and subsisted at the expense of the United States, and encamped together if practicable, or by legions, which encampments shall be denominated the annual camps of discipline. The youth of 18 and 19 years shall be disciplined for 30 days successively in each year; and those of 20 years shall be disciplined only for 10 days in each year, which shall be the last 10 days of the annual encampment." A FUTILE SUBSTITUTE Congress rejected Washington's plan, and thereby entailed upon the country loss and disaster inestimable — as we shall see. Instead, it enacted the stupid and stultifying militia law of 1792, contemplation of which reminds us of the genius who was ''in favor of the law but against its enforcement." In brief, it declared that all citizens were liable to be called for military service, but it omitted to 330 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE provide any means for thus calling them, or for preparing them to render efficient service. It declared that every able-bodied male citizen between the ages of 18 and 45 was a member of the militia. Those who voluntarily formed themselves into military companies for training were called the organized militia, while all the rest were the unorganized militia. As not one in a thousand voluntarily entered the organized militia, the nation was practically left unpre- pared for war, and its citizens in a condition in which, as Lee said in the words already quoted, it would be murder to send them into the field. The result of this fatuous policy was seen before that generation had passed away. In our second war with Great Britain, with two or three exceptions, the perform- ances of our army of raw recruits were disgraceful. Pol- troonery and rout were the order of the day. When a smaU British force approached the national capital, it found that city "defended" by two or three times its number of American troops. Yet the latter, under the eyes of the President himself, fired one volley and then fled in dis- graceful rout, like frightened rabbits, abandoning the capital to the foe. The one real victory was won at the very end of the war, indeed after the treaty of peace had been signed; by which time, after two and a half years of war, the troops had become disciplined and hardened and therefore efficient. Had the troops at Washington been of the quality of those at New Orleans, the nation would not have suffered the indelible disgrace of having its capital betrayed into the hands of an invading foe. Yet with fatuous folly, in all the years since, we have busied ourselves with raging against the vandalism of the invaders in burning our public buildings, and have had nothing to say about the poltroonery of our own troops or the crass 331 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE stupidity of the system which thus entrusted the safety of the country to unprepared greenhorns. Jefferson's change of policy Jefferson was at first a pacifist, beheving in neither army nor navy. So when a United States ship was attacked unawares by a British ship, riddled with shot and shell, and men were taken from it by force, his only reply was to order all American ships to stay in port, where they would not get hurt. Also, at first Jefferson opposed the building of cities, opposed the establishment of manufactures, opposed commerce, and hoped for a revolution every twenty years. But he got over all those crazy notions of his salad days. The disgraceful fiascoes of our militia warfare in 1812-14 opened his eyes. From his retirement at Mon- ticello he wrote to Monroe, regretting that the latter's plan of introducing here Napoleon's conscription system had not been adopted: ''Nothing more wise or efficient could have been imagined than what you proposed. It would have filled our ranks with regulars, and that, too, by throwing a just share of the burthen on the purses of those persons who are exempt either by age or office; it would have rendered our militia ... a nation of warriors. But the go-by seems to have been given to your proposition, and longer sufferance is necessary to force us to what is best. We seem equally incorrigible. . . ." And again he wrote to Monroe: ''We must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make military instruction a part of collegiate education. We can never be safe until this is done." 332 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE OTHER AUTHORITIES FOR PREPAREDNESS Both the Adamses, Madison and Monroe favored uni- versal mihtary training and service. So did Jackson, the founder of modern democracy. He urged in his message of December, 1835, that the whole body of the male popu- lation be organized and classified for training and service. ''A classification of the population," he wrote, '^ offers the most obvious means of effecting this organization. Such a division may be made as will be just to all by trans- ferring each at a proper period of life from one class to another and by calling first for the service of that class, whether for instruction or action, which from age is quaU- fied for the duty and may be called to perform it with the least injury to themselves or the public. ''Should the danger ever become so imminent as to require additional force the other classes in succession would be ready for the call." THE TRADITIONAL POLICY ABANDONED Such was the policy of the founders of the repubhc. Such, then, was the traditional policy of the republic. But it was abandoned; or, rather, it was never fulfilled. The need of it was bitterly felt in the War of 1812, when the great majority of our land operations were as disgrace- ful and as disastrous as our achievements on the sea were brilliant. Despite these admonitions and that example, however, the policy was neglected and abandoned. There was little or no attempt made to give the militia universal training, and the standing army was reduced to a merely nominal strength. The numbers of troops engaged in our various wars, including re-enlistments, have been as follows: Revolution, 1775-83; 309,791. Northwestern Indian, 333 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE 1790-95; 8,983. France, 1798-1800; 4,593. Tripoli, 1801-05; 3,330. Indian (Harrison), 1811-13; 910. War of 1812, 1812-15; 576,622. Creek Indian, 1813-14; 13,781. Seminole, 1817-18; 6,911. Winnebago (Wis.), 1827; 1,416. Sac and Fox (lU.), 1831; . Black Hawk, 1832; 6,465. Cherokee removal, 1833-39; 9,494. Semi- nole (Fla.), 1835-42; 41,122; Sabine Indian, 1836-37; 4,429. Creek (Fla.), 1836-37; 13,418. 'Tatriot" (frontier), 1838-39; 1,500. Seminole (Fla.), 1842-58; Mexico, 1846- 48; 112,230. Cayuse Indian (Ore.), 1848; 1,116. Texas Indian, 1849-56; 4,243. Apache (Utah), 1849-55; 2,561. California Indian, 1849-55; 265. Utah Indian, 1851-53; 540. Oregon- Washington Indian, 1851-56; 5,145. Co- manche, 1854; 503. Seminole, 1855-58; 2,687. Civil War, 1861-66; 2,778,304. Spanish- American, 1898-99; 312,523. Phihppine, 1899-1902; 140,038. Pekin (China) expedition, 1900-01; 6,913. Grand total, 4,371,839. In the principal wars these figures represented chiefly volunteers, and the numbers were ludicrously dispropor- tionate to the efficiency of the service. Thus in the Revolu- tion and in the War of 1812 it is doubtful if at any one time we ever had of effective troops in the field more than one-tenth of the numbers mentioned. ORIGIN OF THE VOLUNTEER DELUSION We may trace the origin of the insane delusion concerning the efficiency of volunteers and raw levies to our first impor- tant battle. Bunker Hill. ''The Americans," says Greene in his military history of the Revolution, ''without proper organization, equipment, or supplies, had fought the best regular troops of Europe, and had repulsed them until their ammunition gave out . . . and they were convinced that they could do it again, and that regular organization 334 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE was not necessary — a conviction which they tenaciously held to throughout the Revolution; and then transmitted to their descendants, who have believed it almost to this day." That delusion survived the disaster and disgrace of the War of 1812, because of the fine achievements of our navy, and because the fact that the British army was chiefly occupied with beating Bonaparte in Spain and Flanders enabled us to come out of that war without the sound drubbing that we otherwise would doubtless have received. Of course at Bunker Hill we won because of the monumental folly of the British in walking into a trap and of attempting to storm, with solid columns, an entrenched position. But in every war which we have fought we have suffered grossly and inexcusably, from lack of preparedness and from our fatuous dependence upon untrained men. UNIVERSAL SERVICE DEMOCRATIC It should of course be perfectly obvious, without argu- ment or explication, that universal military service is not only quite compatible with democratic institutions but also is actually demanded by them. If all men are regarded as equal, in the sight of the law, they must be equal in respon- sibility and duties as well as in rights and privileges. If they are equal in their enjoyment of the service and the protection of the government, they must be equal in their service to and their support of the government, and they must be these things and do these things at all times, in war as well as in peace. These principles need no demon- stration. They are axiomatic. Moreover, since the republic prepares its citizens, by compulsory universal education, for the duties of citi- zenship in peace, it is similarly legitimate and indeed 335 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE imperative for it to prepare them for their duties in war, by giving them universal mihtary instruction and training. THE SWISS EXAMPLE An example of universal service in a democracy is pre- sented by Switzerland. That republic has long been probably the most perfectly prepared nation in the world, for military defense. Yet in no other country has mili- tarism less interfered with industry and social economy, and in no other land is the burden of military expenses lighter. Under the Swiss constitution, with the exceptions of certain specified classes, such as federal officials, postal employes, police, clergymen and teachers, etc., all men are liable for military duty between the ages of 20 and 48. The army is divided into three classes: The elite, from 20 to 32; the landwehr, from 32 to 40; and the landsturm, from 40 to 48 years of age. At 20 every young Swiss reports for admittance to service, and if he passes a satisfactory examination he is enrolled and receives a uniform, rifle and full equipment, which he takes home and keeps during his whole period of service, being responsible for their good care, under heavy penalty. He is then sent to one of the schools for recruits, where he serves under an expert corps of instructors. Each day at the school means eight hours of hard drill and other work, including night-firing and entrenching. During the first year he serves thus 65 days if he is in the infantry and 90 days if he is in the cavalry. After that year he is called out for from 11 to 14 days every other year while he is in the elite. In the landwehr he is called out only once, for 11 days. In the landsturm he is called out only in case of war. 336 UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE SCHOOLBOY TRAINING The recruit on entering the service at 20 years of age is by no means raw material. Up to 15 years of age every boy is compelled to attend school, in which there is sys- tematic physical training intended to give preparation for military service. There is also an elaborate cadet corps system, which boys are encouraged to join, and in which they are instructed in rifle-firing and other military details. At 20 the average young Swiss is already expert in the man- ual of arms and in many of the duties of a soldier's life. The cost of all this to the nation is trifling, the total cost of the military establishment being only about $13,000,000 a year. The cost of each recruit, for training and main- tenance during his first year's period of service, is $13. He serves without pay, save for 16 cents a day for spending money, and the government pays for his uniform, rifle and other equipment, transportation, lodgings and food. The net result is that Switzerland, one of the most peaceful and least mihtaristic countries in the world, is a nation of efficient, disciplined and expert soldiers. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, though British colonies, are really republics; certainly they are no less democracies than the United States; and they have systems of universal service. In Australia military train- ing and service is compulsory upon all boys and men between the ages of 12 and 26. From 12 to 14 they are junior cadets; from 14 to 18 senior cadets; and from 18 to 26 they are citizen forces, armed, equipped and dis- ciplined precisely as in the regular British army. The suggestion of what such a system would mean to this country — of what it would be meaning to us now, if it had been in force for the last score of years — is uncom- monly profitable for consideration. 22 337 <* Chapter XXVIII THE MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR Fears that Our Participation in the War Might Compromise the Monroe Doctrine — Talk about Abandonment of Our "Policy of Isolation" — What the Monroe Doctrine Is, and What It Means — How It was Interpreted by Those Who Made It — No "Policy of Isolation" to be Found in It or Elsewhere — The United States a Full-sized Nation, "Able to Do AU Things that Free and Independent States May of Right Do." IS THE Monroe Doctrine abrogated by our entry into the war? The question is still asked, seriously if not wisely. So it was asked, years ago, if our conquest of Spain in the Philippines had not violated and abrogated that doctrine. Perhaps we might, Yankee fashion, answer the question by asking another. Did the Monroe Doctrine abrogate or forfeit our rights as a sovereign nation? Beyond doubt, a certain fear that we should thus destroy that doctrine was conspicuous among the forces which so long restrained our government from declaring the war to which it had so abundant provocation. Even the President of the United States was troubled with such forebodings, when he intimated that we should perhaps have to abandon our traditional policy of isolation in order to take part in the affairs of the world for the sake of our own rights and of world-wide humanity. NO ISOLATION POLICY The fact is, however, that the United States has no ''policy of isolation." It never had one. It never con- sistently practiced one. No trace of one is to be found, 338 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR in either the public pronouncements or the acts of the nation. Let us begin \\ith the Declaration of Independ- ence. It specifically asserts that the United States, ''as free and independent States, have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do." Certainly there is no hint of isolation there, but rather an assertion of our equal status as a nation among the nations of the world, competent to participate in any and all international affairs. ''no entangling alliances" Washington and Jefferson are named as sponsors for an isolation policy; but they were not. Washington warned the nation against permanent alliances with European powers, but he made it clear that his advice was intended merely for that time, while we were com- paratively small and weak, and in the same breath he cordially sanctioned temporary alliances for special pur- poses. Jefferson also spoke epigrammaticaUy against "entangling alliances," but in almost the next breath he advocated a hard and fast offensive and defensive alliance with Great Britain, and twenty years later, in the ripeness of his retirement as the "Sage of Monticello," he again recommended a permanent alliance with that country in order to detach it from the Continental system and to oppose the Holy AlHance with an Anglo-American alliance. His notable declarations of policy were thus at least two to one against "isolation." THE MONROE DOCTRINE If we come on down to the Monroe Doctrine, which is perhaps most frequently referred to as the basis of our 339 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR "isolation" policy, what do we find? Not a hint nor a suggestion of ''isolation," either in the doctrine itself or in the authoritative comments upon it which were made at that time. In his message Monroe expressed ardent sympathy with Greece in her struggle for independence, and a deep interest in the unhappy condition of Spain and Portugal. There was no hint at isolation, or even at neutrality. Then he proceeded with the doctrine: ''In the wars of the European Powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparations for our defense. . . . With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European Power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. . . . Our policy in regard to Europe . . . remains the same, which is not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its Powers, . . . and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm and manly policy, meeting in all instances the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none." NEITHER ISOLATION NOR MEDDLING There is no "policy of isolation" there, unless indeed it be isolation for a nation to refrain from being a busy- body and a meddler in matters which are none of its busi- ness. It does not comport with our policy to take part in matters relating solely to other powers. Our policy is not to interfere "in the internal concerns" of other powers. All that is quite true. But how about matters which do not relate solely to European powers, and con- cerns which are not internal but external? The doctrine leaves us perfectly free to take any action which may be dictated by our own interest and welfare. 340 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR Jefferson's view of the doctrine So much for the doctrine itself, in letter and in spirit. In the Rush-Canning and Rush-Adams correspondence, which preceded and led to it, there was not the remotest hint at ''isolation," but, rather, some very direct intima- tions of prospective alliance between America and Great Britain. Before issuing the doctrine Monroe sought the advice of Jefferson and Madison, and they both gave it, voluminously, but neither hinted at isolation. Instead, both directly and emphatically recommended and antici- pated the contrary, and approved the proposed doctrine, because they regarded it as a step toward if not a practical achievement of a permanent alliance between America and Great Britain. It is true that Jefferson said that "our first and fundamental maxim should be never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe. . . . America has a set of interests distinct from those of Europe, and particularly her own. She should therefore have a system of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe." But that does not mean isolation, any more than it means isolation for one family not to meddle in the wrangles of another family, but to have its own domestic system, separate from that of any other household. To refrain from being a meddler one need not be a hermit. A VIGOROUS POLICY But note, further, what Jefferson said in the very next paragraph: ''One nation, most of all, could disturb us in this pursuit; she now offers to lead, aid, and accompany us in it. . . . Great Britain is the nation which can do us the most harm of any or all on earth; and with her on our side we need not fear the whole world. With her, then, we should most sedulously cherish a cordial friend- 341 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR ship; and nothing would tend more to knit our affections than to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause. ... If we can effect a division in the body of the European powers, and draw over to our side its most powerful member, surely we should do it." In other words, we were to seek an Anglo-American alliance with which to oppose the Holy Alliance. MADISON ON ALLIANCES That was Jefferson's policy. Madison's was the same. "It is particularly fortunate," he said, ''that the policy of Great Britain has presented a co-operation for an object the same with ours. With that co-operation we have nothing to fear from the rest of Europe. There ought not, therefore, to be any backwardness in meeting her in the way she has proposed . . . Will it not be honorable to our country to invite the British Government to extend the 'avowed dis- approbation ' of the project against the Spanish colonies to the enterprise of France against^ Spain herself, and even to join in some declaratory act in behalf of the Greeks?" Thus while Jefferson was advocating an alliance with Great Britain, Madison, the most scholarly and thoughtful of men, was suggesting that we should utilize that alliance not merely for the protection of the new republics in Spanish America, but also for intervention — ^Anglo-American inter- vention — between France and Spain, and between Turkey and Greece. For while he spoke primarily of mere words of "disapprobation" of France's aggressions upon Spain, and of a mere "declaratory act" in favor of Greece, he recognized the fact that such declarations might imply a pledge to foUow them up with war; in w^hich case, he said, "we ought to compare the good to be done with the httle injur}^ to be apprehended to the United States, 342 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR shielded as their interests would be by the power and the fleets of Great Britain united with their own." In short, we were to join Great Britain in waging war against France for the protection of Spain, and in waging war against Turkey for the liberation of Greece! Yet people prate about our ''traditional policy of isolation!" NATIONAL ACTS AND PRACTICE If from these most weighty and authoritative declara- tions, which however are nothing but declarations, we turn to concrete acts, not only performed by the President but also approved by Congress or by the Senate, what do we find? Note the case of Morocco. In 1880 we united with the European powers in a formal treaty for the pro- tection of foreigners in that empire, and in 1906 we entered at Algeciras that monstrous embroilment of the powers which was one of the most direct preludes to the present European war, and we took almost a predominant part in defining and regulating the rival interests of European powers in that African country. Or what shall we say of the two treaties, or sets of treaties, at The Hague? The United States took a leading part in those conferences and in the making of those treaties, side by side with the European powers; and they were and are treaties relating not merety to our own concerns but to the general inter- national interests of the whole world. Surely, it was not an empty form for this country to sign and ratify those treaties. And surely in our doing so there could not have been the slightest trace of "isolation." THE TRUE RULE OF CONDUCT It is not to be contended that we should embroil our- selves in purely European affairs, or that we should hastily 343 MONROE DOCTRINE IN THE WAR enter into alliances with any other powers in the world. But it cannot be too strongly insisted upon that the Declaration of Independence is not mere '' buncombe" when it says that this country has "full power to contract alliances," and that it was not a purposeless form for the Constitution to invest the President with the power "to make treaties" in the unlimited sense of the term. It may not be expedient for us to enter into alliances. A great authority of old reminded us that things which are lawful are sometimes not expedient. But nothing can be more certain than that there is and has been no "policy of isolation" which may now be abandoned, and that there is nothing in tradition or precedent or declaration or theory or practice to restrain us for one moment from making any alliances or doing any other lawful act which may be expedient and for the interest of our own security and welfare. The United States is not a dwarf nor a cripple, nor yet a hermit, among the nations of the world. 344 Chapter XXIX THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM The Stars and Stripes on the European Battle Line — Flying Above the Offices of the British Government — The King of England Singing "The Star Spangled Banner" — The Dramatic Story of the National Anthem — Conceived and Born in Battle — The Only Important National Anthem in the World Solely Inspired by the National Flag — The Story of the Stars and Stripes — The Grand Union Flag Derived from the British — The Stars and Stripes a Second Derivation from the British Flag — Early Use of the Stars and Stripes — Carried to European Waters by Paul Jones — The Flag of Fifteen Stripes — Some Artistic Anachronisms — The Present Flag, "and Long May It Wave!" THE STARS AND STRIPES are on the firing line of the European war, and will be "in at the death" when Hohen- zollern despotism and Prussian militarism and all the bestial anarchism of '^Kultur" are finally rounded up and crushed by the triumphant democracy of both hemispheres. The entry of our banner into the world war was signally welcomed by our allies, particularly in its being raised to the highest place of honor above the Parliament Houses and all the government offices in London. During the great public demonstrations of "American Day" in the British capital, April 20, 1917, the King of England was heard to join heartily in the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner," an anthem which had been written as the Amer- ican war song in a war waged against England more than a century before I These stirring and epochal incidents make it fitting to recall the story of the flag and of the anthem; the one conceived and born during our first war and the other during our second war; and the two associated with peculiar 345 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM intimacy because of the fact that the anthem, alone among the important national anthems of the world, was inspired by and is indeed essentially a tribute to the flag. key's mission to the BRITISH FLEET The story of the song is briefl}' told. Francis Scott Key, a brilliant member of a noted family, the son of a gallant officer in the Revolution, was at that time thirty- five years old and had already risen into eminence as a lawyer at the national capital. He was looked upon as one of the most important and influential men in his part of Maryland. Now at Upper Marlboro there was a some- what choleric old physician, of excellent skill and abundant patriotism, Dr. William Beanes. To his house came some of the British forces which raided the shores of the Chesa- peake and burned the capitol at Washington, and the officers insisted upon dining at his table and making his office their headquarters. This he was unable to pre- vent, and so he acquiesced, at heart grudgingly and indig- nantly, but outwardly with true Maryland hospitality. But after the officers had gone, there came some scurvy stragglers and camp followers, much the worse for fire- water, free with insults and inclined toward loot. These Dr. Beanes properly clapped into jail for safe keeping. But when the British learned this they sent back a strong force, released the captives, and took Dr. Beanes aboard the flagship of their fleet, with the cheerful assurance that in a day or two he would infallibly be hanged at the yard- arm. At this Key was besought to go to Admiral Cochrane and secure the doctor's release. It was a perilous and unpromising errand, but Key undertook it. He reached the British fleet under a flag of truce on the morning of September 6, 1814, and was well received. It did not 346 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM take him long to secure the release of Dr. Beanes. But just at that time the British were preparing for an attack upon Baltimore which they meant to make a surprise, and in order that they might not disclose what they had seen of these preparations, both Key and Beanes were required to remain aboard the flagship until after the attack had been made, and they were told that they would thus have an unsurpassed opportunity to witness the reduction of Fort McHenry and the capture of the city. "our flag was still there" That attack was made as per schedule on September 13th, in the evening, but it did not result as the British had expected. On the contrary, the fort, under the com- mand of the gallant Armistead, repulsed the fleet and kept its flag flying in triumph all through the night of battle. It was while he anxiously watched this fight from the deck of the British flagship that Key conceived the song, and jotted down rough notes of it on the back of an old letter, to be completed the next day. It may be observed that the song was made quite realistic. The "rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" were very real and numerous that night, and they gave ample proof that "our flag was still there;" and the return of daylight confirmed that proof. The next day the British realized that their attack had failed; and if, made as a surprise, it had been unsuccess- ful, there would be no hope of success in openly renew- ing it. So they sent Key and Dr. Beanes ashore, and sailed away. Key went to Baltimore and showed Judge Nicholson the draft of the song, and at Nicholson's urging it was at once given to a printer and handbill copies of it were struck off and distributed about the city and in 347 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM the American army, where, sung to the English air of "To Anacreon in Heaven/' it quickly gained great popu- larity. It was published in The Baltimore American on September 21st, with a note setting forth the circum- stances of its origin but not mentioning the name of the writer. THE GRAND UNION FLAG The evolution of the Stars and Stripes from the British flag began in 1774, at Taunton, Mass., when the patriots raised the British flag with the motto ''Liberty and Union" added; union then meaning continued union with Great Britain, and liberty meaning the same liberty for the colo- nists as the people of England enjoyed. Next came the memorable step of January 2, 1776, when George Washington, who six months before had assumed chief command of the united colonial armies at Cambridge, raised there a new flag of his own devising. This was the so-called Grand Union flag, and it consisted of thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, with the union jack in canton. That is to say, it was exactly like the Stars and Stripes, with the union jack in place of the stars; or it was like the British flag, with stripes instead of the plain red field. In brief, it was half British and half American. That Grand Union flag was carried for more than a year at the beginning of the Revolution: at Boston, at New York, Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Trenton and Princeton. Leutze's fine painting of ''Wash- ington Crossing the Delaware " shows the Stars and Stripes carried on his boat, but the Stars and Stripes did not then exist and did not come into being until months later. 348 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM THE FIRST STARS AND STRIPES But after Trenton and Princeton it was deemed by- Congress necessary that we should have another national flag, without the British feature of the union jack, and Washington, then spending the winter between Bound Brook and Morristown, N. J., was commissioned to design one, with Robert Morris and Colonel George Ross as his colleagues. Washington simply took the Grand Union flag, struck out the union jack from the canton, and sub- stituted a circle of thirteen white stars on a blue canton, and the Stars and Stripes stood revealed. This was the second step in the evolution from the British flag. There is no reason for doubting that the first sample flag was made by Mrs. Elizabeth Ross, widow of John Ross, at No. 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia. We may also accept the entirely plausible story that Washington drew the design with the six-pointed stars of English heraldry, and that Mrs. Ross suggested the change to five- pointed stars; for which we have much cause to be grate- ful to that clever woman. It is indisputable that on June 14, 1777, John Adams proposed and the Continental Con- gress adopted a resolution that "The flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." FIRST USE OF THE FLAG There has been some dispute as to when the flag was first publicly displayed and used, but the overwhelming weight of evidence indicates that it was at Fort Schuyler, formerly called Fort Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, N. Y. The flag was not officially promulgated until September 349 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM 3, 1777, after which date it speedily came into general use in both^he army and navy, as well as in civil life. It was first raised at sea on a warship when John Paul Jones sailed with the sloop Ranger from Portsmouth, N. H., on a memorable raid upon the coasts of the British Isles. That was on November 1, 1777, and the flag was specially made for Jones by some of the ladies of Portsmouth. Thirty days later he was at Nantes, France, first carrying the flag into a European port and securing for it recognition and a salute from a foreign power. THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES The flag presently began to increase and multiply. Ver- mont came into the Union in 1791, and Kentucky in 1792, and wanted some recognition; wherefore on January 13, 1794, it was enacted that the flag should thereafter consist of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, with the blue canton resting on the fifth red stripe and the stars in three horizontal rows of five each. That was our flag for twenty- three years, including some of the most heroic and historic in our national life. When ''The Star Spangled Banner" was written, ours was a flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. The painting of Perry's victory, which hangs in the Capitol, shows another anachronism, the flag having only thirteen stripes. THE FINAL DESIGN OF THE FLAG But even when that change was made in 1794 there were those who perceived its folly, and protested against it, on the ground that further changes would have to be made, so that for a hundred years the flag would be unsettled and varying. Surely enough, in 1796 Tennessee was admitted to the Union, Ohio in 1803, Louisiana in 1812, Indiana 350 THE FLAG AND ITS ANTHEM in 1816, and Mississippi in 1817; so that there were five new states without representation in the flag. That would not do, and so Peter H. Wendover, a Representative of New York, secured the appointment of a committee, which on January 2, 1817, reported a bill for remodehng the flag. This report was based upon suggestions which were made to the committee at Wendover's request by Captain Samuel Chester Reid, of the navy, the commander of the famous privateer General Armstrong in the War of 1812; and it provided for a flag of thirteen stripes, as at first, representing the thirteen original states, and of twenty stars, representing the increased number of states, a new star to be added thereafter for each new state, the star to be added on the Fourth of July following the admission of the state. That was enacted on April 4, 1818, and remains to this day the flag law of the nation. i Thus on July 4, 1818, the flag assumed the form of thir- teen stripes and twenty stars. The number of stars there- after increased automatically on the Fourth of July of each year named, on account of the admission of the states named, as follows: Twenty-one in 1819, for Illinois; 23 in 1820, Alabama and Maine; 24 in 1822, Missouri; 25 ia 1836, Arkansas; 26 in 1837, Michigan; 27 in 1845, Florida; 28 in 1846, Texas; 29 in 1847, Iowa; 30 in 1848, Wiscon- sin; 31 in 1851, California; 32 in 1858, Minnesota; 33 in 1859, Oregon; 34 in 1861, Kansas; 35 in 1863, West Vir- ginia; 36 in 1865, Nevada; 37 in 1867, Nebraska; 38 in 1877, Colorado; 43 in 1890, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho; 44 in 1891, Wyoming; 45 in 1896, Utah; 46 in 1908, Oklahoma; 48 in 1912, Arizona and New Mexico. Thus in 140 years the Stars and Stripes has assumed no fewer than twenty-five dif- ferent forms. As it is today, LONG MAY IT WAVE! 351 EPILOGUE THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER Oh! say, can you see, hy the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilighVs last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thro^ the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. Oh! say, does the Star Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep. Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, , As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morni7ig's first beam. In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream. 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh! long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation. Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust." And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 352 ^^ H . 46- 79 ■^^ ^0 "> ,^ „..o %,^'' h\'. ^>ft //o o -V -V A-^ ^-^^^ y^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. (/> Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide ^^ Treatment Date: MAt 2001 '^o PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIOM '*0 111 Thomson Park Drive (-> Cranberry Township. PA 16066 ^ (724) 779-2111 ^, oV /#%v DEC 73 N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962 0*