(t)XV> n^ POu^YKV ^^^ywJ^ nit ^ D 525 .M273 Copy 1 THE GEOaRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR BY FRANK M. McMURRY, Ph.D. :3««S^ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1918 All rights reserved y^^ v\^ <\^ THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR By Frank M. McMurey FiQ. 2. 1. German Empire in 1914 (Before the War) In order to understand the geography of the war, it is necessary to make some study of Germany. There are manv states in the German Empire, just as there are many in our own country, and they vary in size and im- portance even much more than grates of the do ours. In Fig. 2 one can German easily see which is largest. Empire How does Prussia compare with all the other states together in area and population? Copyright, 1918, by Tt^e Macmillan Company 1 ©CI.A50824^ NOV 21 1918 •rVvf) THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR Which is st'coiid iu area and population? ^ Which is third in eacli ? Trace the boiUKhiry of Prussia. Locate Bavaria and Saxony. Note that three of the states are only cities. Name and locate each of these. Our largest state is Texas, which is more than two hundred times as large as Rhode Island, our smallest. Our largest state in population is New York, which contains more than one hundred times as many people as Nevada, our smallest state in population. Yet we have no state that is nearly equal to all the others either in area or population ; in fact, each is a very small part of the whole. From the map it is plain why people so often name Prussia when speaking of Ger- many. Perhaps the map suggests to you, too, that it is dangerous for a nation to have one state so much larger than all the others together. In the United States there is no such danger. But if Prussia's importance and power correspond to its size, it can con- trol the other twenty-four states and have its own way. If it happened to be governed by selfish men, all the other states would have to suffer ; and even if it were well gov- erned, the other states would have too little of self-government. It is generally believed that these dangers have not been avoided ; indeed, that Prussia's bad leadership has been the principal cans? of the great war. Germany has only a small number of colonies, as is seen in Fig. 1. Notice their areas. There are three that are each much larger than Germany, and their popula- tions together reach well into the millions. All of them are in the torrid zone or very close to it. Locate each of those in Africa. Note the latitude of New Guinea. Germany has been greatly interested in 2. Their her colouies and has spent importance |.^,.gp g^„^^^ ^^f money for their development. Her apparent aim has been Germany's principal colonies I. Location, area, and population to find suitable places for the emigration of Germans from the Fatherland. Although the density of population of Germany itself (Fig. 534, main text) is not so great as that of some other countries, it has greatly increased in recent years and some outlet has seemed necessary. The fact is, however, that very few Ger- mans have emigrated to these colonies. One reason for this is that the torrid climate there makes life almost impossible for white people ; at any rate, in such regions the white man soon loses energy and health. The kind of government that a country has may be of vital importance to other countries, and that is true of the -pj^g objection German government. Its form to their kind is a monarchy and the chief of government officer is the Kaiser, William II. He ap- points the leading minister, called the Chan- cellor, and the latter appoints the other members of the cabinet, such, for example, as IVIinister of Interior, and Minister of Education. The difficulty is that these ministers who form the German cabinet and very largely' control the state are respon- sible to the Kaiser, and not to the people. Also, the Kaiser is not elected by popular vote, as our President is, but has in- herited his office and claims that he holds it by divine right, or by appointment from (jod alone. Neither is he responsible to the people. Thus the people have little authority in the government. It is their duty to be directed, — to obey, rather than to lead. There is no effective check on the Kaiser or on the leading statesmen subject to him, if they happen to be narrow in their plans or too ambitious ; these leaders can even de- clare war without the consent of the people. To this power our objection is very serious. We do not believe that a few men should have such power. War is so fearful an undertaking, the welfare of the mass of the people is so involved in it, that they ought THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR to have a voice in deciding such an issue ; at least, only those who represent them and are fully responsible to them, should have that power. Otherwise a s m a 1 1 ^ Tg r o u p might at any time make end- less trouble both for themselves and for other nations. That is what the small group in Germany has done, in starting this war, and the United States is determined to aid in making such a step im- possible again. This is one of our great aims in the present war. 2. Examples of Prussian Leadership We commonly think of the United States as a young nation, and of the governments The youth of ^^ Europe as very old, but the German the fact is that Germany is the Empire youngest of the great nations. We are nearly a centiu'y older than Ger- many, for that Empire was founded in 1S71. There were, of course, German people living in that region long before, but until that date they were not brought together to form the German Empire. The leadership in German affairs, both before 1871 and since, has rested with Prussia. Several acts show the spirit that has pre- vailed in Prussia and, therefore, in the Ger- man Empire during the last sixty years. About 1860 a very strong and unscrupu- lous man named Otto von Bismarck became the chief minister in Prussia. His aim was to nuike Prussia powerful without much re- gard to the rights of other people. One of © Underwood and Underwood Fig. 3. — German submarine of the largest type stopping the Spanish mail steamer off Cadiz. his early acts was to attack the little country of Denmark and take from it the south- ern section called Schleswig- Annexation of Holstein, about one third of Schleswig- the whole country. This region Holstein was annexed to Prussia and has remained a part of it ever since (Fig. 2). In area Schleswig-Holstein is nearly equal to Massachusetts, and it has been important as a farming region. The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and the naval port, Kiel, ha\'e made it especially noted in recent years (Fig. 4). The canal was dug in order 'to secure a short and safe route for vessels from the North Sea to the Baltic. Kiel is a port at the eastern end of the canal, with a harbor so remarkably good that it has become the chief naval station of Germany. German war vessels can reach the North Sea very quickly from this haven, and they can escape just as quickly by this route when there is need. Very soon after 1870 Germanv found a THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR chance to quarrel with France and improved the opportunity. France was invaded and Annexation of ^^ris captured within a few Alsace- months. The terms of peace Lorraine ^}^f^^ were finally agreed upon required France to pay to the Germans an indemnitv of one billion dollars and also h -• \Lei'«\ /y St ( ^--^teBretnerhaven''v/ <^ /' Jim IK L J \ 'j/Bremervorde Longitude East frum GreeQwiub Fui. 4. to cede to them the region called Alsace- Lorraine (Fig. 2). This is a region about as large as Con- necticut and, like Schleswig-IIolstein, valuable for its farm ])ro(lucts, especially grapes, and for its textile industries. But there were two other reasons why Prussia coveted it. It is a land that is remarkably rich in iron ore and coal, and while Germany had ores in other sections, none of those sections was so rich in these two minerals. The (rer- mans foresaw that their need of iron would be likely to increase in the future, owing both to increased maiuifacturing and also to possible war. War calls for an enormous amount of iron and steel. In 1911 they obtained over three times as much iron ore from this territory as from all the rest of Prussia; and had they not had these rich iron mines in their possession this great war would have ceased long ago. The other reason was, perhaps, just as important in their minds. Alsace-Lorraine had been the principal source of iron in France, and if France were de- prived of it, the Germans thought she could hardly carry on a successful war in the future. She might, then, be re- fluced to a second-class power and Germany would be able to overcome her at will. 3. Ambitions of Germany since 1871 The Prussians and some of the small German states that had joined them Reasons for had much reason encourage- to feel encouraged "^^"^ by their successes. As a re- sult of the war with Denmark they had acquired extensive territory ; as a result of their struggle with France they had obtained still more valuable territory and a billion dollars besides. There was another great benefit. This Franco-Prussian war, as it was called, had brought the many small political divisions of the Germans together and made it po.ssible to found, by their union, a new nation called the German Empire. That great event took place, as stated before, in 1871. Thus the Germans started out as a new nation feeling highly pleased with them- selves. They had been invincible in fighting and had also become rich. A billion dollars in those days seemed a fabulous amount and made the (iermans feel that they were rolling in wealth. Another fact gave reason for great pride. Neither of these wars had THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR lasted more than a few months and they were therefore not very costly. That fact mnst have awakened a very important ques- tion in the minds of the people : If wars can prove so profitable and yet can be made to cost so little, may they not be very desirable for a nation ? May not w ar be a very good thing ? After the founding of the empire Bismarck remained Chancellor for many years. He The Middle- was ambitious to develop its Europe plan power to the fullest extent, in- deed to make it supreme in Europe just as he had made Prussia supreme in Germany. To this end not only schools were developed and mines and factories, but great schemes for political power as well. One of the latter was called the " Mittel-Europa " or in English the " Middle-Europe " plan. This was a scheme for the combination under one leadership of as many of the I . What the countries in central Europe as plan was possible. They were to support one another in commerce and also in de- fense against enemies in war. The govern- ments were to be independent as before, but the several nations were to act together in military and economic matters. On Fig. 416, main text, you can see what nations might have been expected to join such 2 Who the ^ league. The two most promi- leader was nent would naturally be Ger- ° ® many and Austria-Hungary. Several, if not all, of the Balkan States would be included, and Turkey, for she still had some territory in Europe. It was hoped, too, that Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Italy might be in- duced to join. Of the two most prominent nations Austria- Hungary could not, of course, be the leader. Her area was somewhat greater than that of Germany and her population not very much less. Her population was very mixed, however, with many opposing interests, and their union under one ruler was verv loose. It had long been expected that at the death of the Emperor Francis Joseph, which oc- curred only in 1916, the empire would neces- sarily fall apart, according to the many nationalities that composed it. In such circumstances the leadership would naturally fall to Germany, for she was by far the strongest power. Such leadership by Germany, since it would allow her to dominate this group of states, both in military and economic mat- ters, would immensely increase her power both in war and in peace. "^rhere was another project which was closely related to this one and was really a continuation of it. This became know^n as the " Berlin-to-Bagdad Plan," and as time passed the two were de^•eloped together. According to this scheme the Middle- Europe project was to be extended so as to include southwestern Asia. The Berlin-to- Asia Minor just south of the Bagdad plan Black Sea is held by Turkey, i. what the and to the south and south- project was east of that region are a number of weak Mohammedan states somewhat under the control of Turkey. Through a close alliance with Turkey, Germany secured valuable rights in this entire area, including the right to plant colonies, develop trade, and build railways. An especially important feature in the plan was the building of a railroad all the way from Constantinople to Bagdad, more than a thousand miles distant, on the Tigris River. This river flows through the famous coimtry of INIesopotamia and to the Persian Gulf. This road would, of course, be connected with the road from Berlin to Constantinople, so that Berlin, and even Hamburg, would be directly connected by rail with Bagdad ; hence the name, the " Berlin-to-Bagdad Plan." The right for its construction was obtained from Turkey by Germany in 1902-1903. Figure 5 shows how nearly completed this railroad was in Jan- uary, 191S. Estimate the number of miles THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR that remain to be built. Note the countries through which it passes. The Turkish Government has always been legarded as exceedingly untrustworthy and cruel ; and it has allowed or even favored so many massacres of innocent people within its borders that it has hardly been classed among the civilized nations. Yet in order to carry through the Berlin to Bagdad pro- ject the Germans cultivated the friendship tains valuable mineral deposits, also. It promised, therefore, to be a good substitute for some of the colonies that Germany thought she needed so badly. The railroad as a means for transportation of goods secured a very important advantage. Heretofore the shortest route by water for goods from India, the East Indies, and other countries of eastern Asia, to western Europe has been around Arabia, through the Suez PROPOSED BERLIN TO BAGDAD RAILWAY Fic of the Turks diligently, and the Kaiser, in a speech at Damascus in 1898, declared : " The three hundred million Mohammedans wdio live scattered over the globe may be assured of this, that the German Emperor will be their friend at all times." Much of the Turkish Empire is arid ; but in Bible times the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, 2. Its value in or Mesopotamia, was very pro- time of peace ductive, and by the aid of irri- gation it could be made so again. It con- Gaiial and the entire length of the Mediter- ranean, to the Atlantic Ocean. Trace this course in Fig. 1. This was usually a safer and easier route than any by land. Even goods from many parts of the Turkish Em- pire have had to be transported long dis- tances by camels in order to reach Europe. But this railway would solve these difficulties of transportation. It would furnish a far shorter and more convenient route to and from the Orient, and save a great quantity THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR of time. It is no wonder that Germany magnified sueli an advantage. Preparation for war, as has been indicated, has always been an important part of the 3. Its value in German plans. This proposed time of war road secured a very great ad- vantage in case of war, particularly war with either Russia or Great Britain, who were her most dangerous opponents among the Great Powers. It gave to Germany the control of Con- stantinople and, thereby, of the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. This is the outlet by water on which Russia has always been most dependent, for her ports in the Baltic Sea and on the Arctic are hard to reach and frozen up much of the year. Yet Russia could now easily be blocked at this point by Germany. The most valaable colony in all the British Empire is India, toward which this railroad reaches. King George is known as King of England and Emperor of India. There are an enormous population and imtold wealth in that vast country, and no doubt Germany has often cast longing eyes in its direction. If she were at war with England this railroad might make it easy for her to make a vast amount of trouble in India, and perhaps to attack it directly with an army. The realization of the Berlin-to-Bagdad plan required that Germany dominate all Why this ^^^ countries through which the plan is ofifensive road passed ; in short, they to the world ^,^^^j^j practically have to be governed by Germany or her allies. In these countries are people of many different races and languages who have few interests in common and who are just as anxious to govern themselves as we are to go\'ern ourselves. Our idea is that they should have this privilege ; that it would be most unjust and an act of extreme tyranny for another nation, simply because it had the power, to subject these peoples to its own will. We should not expect them all to submit, and the plan would therefore mean a state of constant warfare over this vast area. Referring to this plan of the Germans President Wilson, in his Flag Day Address, June 14, 1917, said : " Their plan was to throw a broad belt of German military power and political control across the very center of Europe and beyond the Mediterranean into the heart of Asia ; and Austria-Hungary was to be as much their tool and pawn as Serbia or Bulgaria or Turkey or the ponderous states of the East. Austria-Hungary, indeed, was to be- come part of the central German Empire, absorbed and dominated by the same forces and influences that had originally cemented the German states themselves. The dream had its heart at Berlin. It could have had a heart nowhere else I It rejected the idea of solidarity of race entirely. The choice of peoples played no part in it at all. It contemplated binding together racial and political units which could be kept together only by force — Czechs, Magyars, Croats, Serbs, Roumanians, Tiu"ks, Armenians — the proud states of Bohemia and Hungary, the stout little commonwealths of the Balkans, the indomitable Turks, the subtile peoples of the East. These people did not wish to be united. They ardently desired to direct their own affairs, would be satisfied only by undisputed independence. They could be kept quiet only by the presence or the con- stant threat of armed men. They would live under a common power only by sheer compulsion and await the day of revolution. But the German military statesmen had reckoned with all that and were ready to deal with it in their own way." It might seem that German ambition would be satisfied with all the preceding plans. But there is one other Pan- aim that shows still wider am- Germanism bitions among some of the leading Germans. It is known bv the name of Pan-Germanism. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR There are many (Jerinans scattered over the earth. ]\IiIlions of our own citizens are •of German birth or descent ; there is a hirge number in Brazil, in Chile, and else- where. It was the plan to unite all these as far as possible. For that purpose many societies were formed in these countries, and other societies were organized in Germany to keep in touch with them. German-speaking ])eople in foreign lands were urged to pre- serve the use of the German language, and money from Germany was freely spent in foreign lands to found German newspapers which should spread German culture. themselves as Germans rather than Ameri- cans and to act accordingly. That would tend to make trouble for the rest of the world ; but it might strengthen (xermany, and that was the object. The part " pan " in the term " Pan-Germanism " is from the (xreek meaning " all," and the name signifies the extension of German rule wherever Ger- mans live. All these plans made war a possibility at any time and a certainty some time in the near future. German states- Preparations men foresaw this outcome from ^^^ w*r the beginning and for the last fifty years ARMIES, PEACE FOOTING JANUARY 1914 250,.000 500,,000 1,000,000 RUSSIA.... FRANCE... ITALY GREAT BRITAIN - RUMANIA UNITED STATES BELGIUM SERBIA . PORTUGAL GERMANY. AUSTRIA- HUNGARY TURKEY... BULGARIA ,290,000 .763,820 .305,038 .250,000 . 130,000 . 104,569 . 47,603 361,747 .30,000 .866,026 424,258 .210,000 .. 5Q.900 •yyy^yy\ ; w/^/y ^ 'yyy^y^>yy:^iyyyyy^^i^ ■y<>y^y^;yyy^f'>^iii^'^^^^:i^^.^^/:'^:^;i^^^ i^^,^iii^^^^ii^^:^ii^^^^^^^;ii^J^ ZZI^ ". "" 1 y^^^y^yyyyyyy^ '^yyyyyyyyy^yyyyyyyyyyyyy^yyyyyy.^ '^:^y^y-^^^^^^^^^^^^y:^^y^ iy^y-y-^^^^^ Fig. 7. In 1914 the Germans felt that their prepa- ration was complete. In an address delivered in Chicago, Sep- tember 14, 1917, Elihu Root, former United States Senator from New York, summed up the case as follows : " It now appears beyond the possibility of doubt that this war was made by Ger- many, pursuing a long and settled purpose. For many years she had been preparing to do exactly what she has done, with a thorough- ness, a perfection of plans, and a vastness of provision in men, munitions, and supplies never before equaled or approached in human history. She brought the war on when she chose, because she chose, in the belief tion. Yet her population (Fig. 7) and resources were much inferior to those of Germany. Likewise Russia's army, though large (Fig. 6), was inferior to Germany's army in training, equipment, and effective- ness. All of the nations now allied hoped still that war might be a\'oided. Conse- quently they did not prepare for war as completely as Germany did. Among the Great Powers of Europe that entered the war immediately, England had by far the smallest army and it was scat- tered widely over the earth. She had small supplies of munitions and few factories for making them. Her people had not believed that Germany would provoke a war. But 10 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR she did have the ad\antage of a great na\y. In Fig. 8 compare the warship tonnage of *the several powers. Engkmd's navy has been her salvation. The event that immediately led to the war occurred in Austria near the Serbian How the border. On June 2nn3 yy^^;^^^^^:^^^^^^:^:^^^^^^^^ Fig. 8. sympathizers. Bad feeling already existed between Austria and Serbia, and this deed naturally made it worse. One reason for the bad feeling was that Serbia was hostile to the Middle-Europe plan, and was, therefore, opposed to the Berlin-to-Bagdad railway, which would have to pass through its territory (Fig. 5). That was an unpardonable offense against Ger- many and her allies. Feeling that they were fully read\ for war, the Central Powers now saw the excuse for beginning it. As punishment for the murder of the Archduke Austria, with the full support of (icrmany, made demands on Serbia that were altogether too humiliating for acceptance. Then, \\lien Serbia rejected them, war was declared. The responsibility of Germany in the whole matter is stated by President Wilson, in his Flag Day Address of 1917, in the following words : have political domination all along the route of the great economic empire she planned." The first great object of the Central Powers was to conquer F'rance, and they hoped to accomplish that feat before ^j^^ ^^ j^ Russia, on their east, could the west strike an effective blow. _ . I. Reasons for In order to do this they must entering capture Paris. The shortest prance through If r^ n • Belgium distance from (rermany to Pans is only 170 miles, west from Met/> (Fig. 11). But whether one api)roaclies Paris from the cast or northeast, the route is difhcult on account of the rough surface. This map shows a series of hills ruiniing in a general northern and soutlicrn direction between the Paris basin and the GcM'inan frontier. On the side toward Paris these hills have long, gentle sloj:es, but on the eastern side they have steep slopes that are hard to climb. The rivers run between these ranges of hills and in some places cut their way through 11 12 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR them. If one followtxl their courses, one could find a comparatively easy road. But tfieir valleys are narrow, with steep sides in some places, and these can be easily defended against a powerful enemy. There is only one route that is compara- tively le\el land all the way, and that route leads through Belgium and then down south- west near the coast toward Paris. This is the route that the Teutons chose. It is only to save time, but also to enrich them- selves greatly while taking from their enemies the means of carrying on the war. For these reasons their choice must have seemed to them a masterly one. There were most vital reasons, however, against this selection. Germany ^ Reasons had pledged herself by solemn against entering agreement to respect the neu- ^ trality of Belgium, and if there was any sense l'i<;. UJ. — ■ French troops on the way to the front. © Underwood and Underwood longer than any other, being 250 miles, but it is the easiest way on account of the level ground over which it passes. There is another reason that no doubt influenced this choice. Belgium is a re- markably fertile country ; also, southern Belgium and northern France are, together, one of the richest mining and manufacturing regions in the world. France obtains from this section nine-tenths of her iron ore, as well as half of all her coal. Much more than one-half of all her iron and steel fac- tories are located here. In choosing this route, therefore, the Teutons could hoi)e not of honor in her she would keep this pledge. Also England had bound herself to protect the neutrality of Belgium ; so it was likely that she would declare war against the Teu- tons if they crossed the Belgian frontier. But honor counted little with the Germans when such advantages were involved, and England's army was so small that the war might be finished before it could be made to count. So Belgium had to suffer. This invasion of Belgium by (Germany, contrary to her own pledge, was an act of tremendous significance for all the nations of the earth, particularly for the small ones. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 13 Fiii. 11. — The approaches to Paris from tlie east, and northeast. It was really a declaration that the small nation must expect to suffer in the future. .. Importance flight, not Right, was to rule ; of Germany's act and any people that lacked the physical force to protect itself against attack might expect to be subdued and governed by stronger nations. Never was a more direct blow struck against liberty. The Germans had planned to march a certain distance each day, and allowed them- selves six days to get past Belgium. They did not expect the Belgians to have the cour- age to try to stop them. At the start, though, there was a delay. When the army appeared at the frontier of the little countrv, the German commander informed its people that it was necessary for his army to cross, but that the Belgians would not be injured if they did not resist, and that they would be paid in gold for any damage that might be done. To his astonishment they refused. This was their reply : " The Belgian government, if they were to accept the proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the honor of the nation ami betray their duty toward Europe." King Albert did not hesitate. He threw his small army across the German path, even though it meant destruction for both army and people, and he delayed their advance ten full days. The Germans were furious and inflicted on Belgium awful punishment. The ten days, however, saved France. It 14 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR gave the French time to assemble their armies and the English time to send a small • . _, force to their aid. Also, this 4. Importance of Belgium's re- act of the Belgians aroused the sistance admiration of the world; it was as noble as the conduct of the Ger- mans was ignoble, and it drew to them Fici. 12. British Official Pliutuyiapli British troops entreiiclied on tho westorii fi-ont. the su}){)ort of fair-minded people every- where for the awful years that ha\(' followed. The Germans soon left Belgiiun behind and came within sight of Paris. Figure 11 shows the line that they held when nearest to the city. Estimate the distance. The French government had left the capital, on account of the imminent danger, and moved to Bordeaux. It looked as though the city would have to fall. But the furious battle of the Marne turned the invaders back, and the line that they finally had to take at the end of the year's fighting is also shown in Fig. 11. This was one of the great bat- 5, The result ties of history. For the time of the campaign being, at least, it decided that France should remain French and not become Prussian. Germany did not succeed in crushing France before Russia could act. On the The war in contrary, Hus- the east sia assembled a great army and invaded East Prussia. In order to meet this at- tack Germany was compelled to withdraw some of her forces from France. This helped to check the Germans on the ^larne. Russia also invaded Austria, and thus she kept the Teutons ex- ceed ingl\' busy on the eastern front. Figure 13 shows the lines held in the east toward the end of 1914. The superiority of the British navy (Fig. 8) was im- mediately made The war upon to count. By the seas the end of the year the German fleets, war and mer- chant, were dri\'en from the seas. When it is recalled that three fourths of the earth's surface is water, the importance of this advantage begins to be apparent. All this area was at the disposal of the British for transporting supplies, as well as troops from her colonies ; at the same time it was closed to Germany. 5. The War in 1915 The campaign of 1914 had proved en- couraging to the Allies on the Discourage- whole; but there were many mentstothe reasons for discouragement ^^^^^ during the year 1915. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 15 Several attcnipts were made to drive the Germans from their position in the 1. On the west, l)ut without much suc- western front ^-pgy ^he Une of battle re- mained throughout the year much the same as shown in Fig. 11. In the east the Russians were badly de- feated. Figure 13 2. On the east- shows era front h O W far into German and Austrian ter- ritory they had advanced in 1914. But this year they were driven out of this conquered ter- ritory and lost ex- tensive areas of their own. All Poland was taken from them, includ- ing the great cities of Warsaw and Lodz, and they lost over 2,000,000 men in captured, killed, and w o u n d e d . Figure 15 marks the line of battle in the closing days of the year. Turkey (p. 40) h a d j o i n e d the Central Powers in 1914, but the Fig. Balkan States, lying 3 Advance of 'between Turkey and Austria, the Beriin-to- had uot, with the exception of ag a p.an. .Serbia, declared in favor of either side. Under those conflitions, and with Serbia one of the Allies, both the ]\Iiddle- Europe project and that for the Berlin-to- Bagdad railway were blocked. In order to check them still further, the Allies planned an expedition against the EASTERN BATTLE FROM 1914 FurtJiest Advance uf Russians ■■■■■ Eastern Front at clvae of 1914 ^bm SCALE OF MILES Dardanelles, with the object of getting possession of this outlet from the Black Sea and capturing Constantinople. In spite of great efforts it resulted only in failure and enormous losses of men. It had other bad effects. Bulgaria had hesitated to ally herself with either party; but now she felt it safe to join the Teutons. Then the Austro- Germans and Bulgarians to- gether overran Serbia and crushed that nation. These events brought the Middle-Europe plan to much nearer realization, and paved the way for further devel- opment of the great Bagdad railway. The Central Pow- ers had good reason to feel encouraged. Even in war, horrible as it is, there are many rules German t()l)e barbarities followefl to which all the leading go\'ernments have agreed. These 13. rules were sup- posed to hav^e force of law for the various nations and to limit its evils in important ways. While Germany had fully agreed to these laws she has shown no more respect for them than she showed for her agreement in regard to Belgium. Here are only a few of the things she has done in violation of international law : she has repeatedly massacred men, women, and children, ap- 16 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR pareutly with the main object of making herself feared; she has robbed conquered •territory of food, raw materials for manu- factures, tools, machinery, and anything Fig. 14. British Official Photograph One of the giant dirigibles guarding the British coast. else she could lay her hands on, that, after re- moval to her own land, might be of value to her own people ; what she could not hope to use she has wantonly destroyed, simply in order to leave citizens in conquered territory as destitute as ])ossible. For ex- anii)le, to that end she has even killed or- chard after orchard of fruit trees and has set fire to houses and farm implements. Tens of thousands of civilians in Belgium, Poland, and elsewhere have been transported to Teuton lands to work as slaves ; men, women, and children have been placed in front of the firing line in order to protect the Teuton soldiers ; poison gas and liquid fire have been introduced. ProbaV)ly every international law to which Germany had agreed has been broken by her repeatedly. It is well for us to know such facts in order that we ma\' understiind the kind of enemy we are fighting. In 1915 there occurred some events that brought much encouragement. One was the entrance of Italy on the side of the Allies. In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 ^^^^'^^^ ^^'^ . . encourage- notice her popula- ment among tion as compared the Allies with that of other i. Entry of countries ; also the ^}f}y »" ^'^^ o^ Allies size of her army and her warship tonnage. The fact that she produces very little coal and iron greatly reduces her strength ; but in spite of that fact she has brought very valuable help. As soon as she lost all control of the seas, Germany had to leave her colonies ^ ^oss of to their fate. One colonies by of the first to be ^"'""'^y taken was Kiau-Chau (Fig. l),by Japan. Germany had highly valued this colony. Other islands in the Pacific were soon lost. By the end of 1915 all the four large German colonies in Africa had been invaded and most of their territory conquered. Germany has no colonies now. When England declared war, she naturally expected the supjjort of all her English colo- nies. This supi)ort was of very ^ Royalty of great importance, for these British colo- colonies constitute a large part of the British Empire. The " Mother Gountry," called the " United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," includes Eng- land, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. It has an area all together of only al)out 12{),()00 square miles, which is less than one half that of Texas; its i)opulation is more than 45,()()(),()()(), which is over ten times that of Texas. Compared with the rnited States the Inited Kingdom is a small coimtry, both in size and population (Fig. 7). How does it compare with Germany ? When the colonies are added, however, the THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 17 Empire is eiiornioiis. On Fi<>;. 1 note how many parts of the earth belong to the British Empire. Its possessions are found in every continent and border every ocean. In North (1) Extent of America they are Canada and the colonies Newfoundland. Name the most important parts of Asia that are British possessions ; of Africa. What other important regions are British? Note the population of India ; of Canada ; of Australia (main text, pp. 411, 412). All these possessions together increase the area under English control more than 12,000,000 square miles, and the population 450,000,000. It is evident that it made a very great difference to the British whether these dependencies supported them strongly in the conduct of the war or whether they refused support. Germany did not believe that Eng- land's colonies would respond vigor- , ously to the call from the expectation in Mother Country ; and she regard to their j^g^j strong rcasons for this loyalty . belier. Undoubtedly the Germans argued that if these possessions belonged to Germany, many of them would break away from German control at the first opportunity. Schleswig-Holstein has been a problem to the German govern- ment ever since its annexation ; and Alsace-Lorraine has caused far more trouble. There has probably never been a time since 1870 when the great majority of the inhabitants of Alsace- Lorraine would not have returned to French control, if they had had a chance to vote on the question. Germany has shown a re- markable tendency to iij'ouse the hatred of the foreign peoples whc^n she has gov^erned, and of course she would not admit that England possessed any more skill than she herself had shown in governing colonies. The long distance of many of the dependen- cies from England made it especially difficult for them to keep in close touch with the Mother Country. Difference in language and customs in many cases would cause her influence to be felt still less. In such cir- cumstances it seemed hardly probable that a war that she declared would lead them Fig. 15. to share fully with her in hardship and danger. Aside from such reasons for disloyalty, Ger- many proposed to supply one herself. She set to work, even before the war, to stir up discontent among many of the colonies. Furnished with large sums of money, men were sent who gave their best efforts toward stirring up in the colonies ill feeling toward 18 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR the English and aiding any movements that might lead to disloyalty and rebellion. This • seems an easy task, too, when one remembers that in any country there are many persons who grumble against the government. The fact that not many years ago England had been at war with some of her colonists, especially those in South Africa, ga\'e hope of great success in this attempt. Germans have been employed to stir up trouble in this man- ner in probably every one of the British colo- nies of importance. The ambition was not merely to prevent aid to the British but to compel the British to consume much of their strength in quelling rebellion among their colo- nies. Indeed, by that means they hoped that England would be so fully occupied that she would have little energy left for fighting the Germans. To the astonishment of the Germans their plan did not work. The British Empire did not fall apart. Of the scores and (3) Their re- sponse to the scorcs of colonics, big and little, call of the Yiot ouc has declared its inde- Mother Country . r\ ,^ pendence. On the contrary, their loyalty has astonished the world. Not only have they remained friendly ; they have joined actively in the prosecution of the war, furnishing men, money, and supplies to the fullest extent possible. The war against Turkey has been very greatly aided by sol- diers from India. Canada has sent to the battle fields about a half million men — an undertaking greater than it would be for us to send six millions. Australia and New Zea- land have done correspondingly well. Even the small islands have been eager to do their bit. Early in 1916 Jamaica, with a popula- tion of less than one million, sent her second ship load, consisting of about eleven himdred men. No one had known before how loosely the many parts of the British Empire were put together. No one had known whether, at a great crisis, the Empire would crumble, each division of people to form an independ- ent nation ; or whether its parts would unite more closely than ever to form one more powerful nation. The response of the colo- nies has answered this question. No doul)t one reason for this result was the sense of danger that the dependencies felt w^hen Germany declared that (4) Reasons for Might rather than Right should ""* ''^■'^«'^^ rule the world. Independent small nations in that case had little chance ; they must ally themselves with others in order to be pro- tected. This danger, then, tended to unite them and to draw them to the more powerful Mother Country. Yet they would hardly have responded so willingly to the call, had they not in past years been treated with respect by the United Kingdom ; had they not been gi^'en freedom to a large extent ; and had they not been well protected as British subjects when protection was needed. The occasion was a test of the kind of government Britain had established over her colonies ; and — to the disgust of Germany — she stood the test astonishingly well. The greatness of the cause must ha\e been a third reason for this response. The war at first may have seemed remote to some of the colonies, but they soon saw that Germany was threatening the existence of democracy throughout the world. The only hope that men will ever enjoy the right to govern them- selves in peace lies in the destruction of mili- tarism. The war, therefore, concerned them directly and they must share in the struggle. The exhibition of loyalty by the British colonies was one of the especially encouraging facts in the midst of the many discourage- ments of the year 1915. 6. The War in 1916 In the west two great battles were fought : Verdun and the Somme, each lasting several months and resulting in defeat to the Ger- mans with enormous losses of men. The THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 19 lines, however, as drawn in Figs. 11, 13, were not greatly changed. The Russians Events on the ^^^^^ Italians were also success- east and west ful in opposing the Austrians. fronts ^jjg balance of the fighting was, therefore, favorable to the Allies. Roumania, how- who ter defend. Compare the line in Fig. 18 with that in Fig. 11. In this region the Allies in heavy battles won other On the west- \'ictories that were of much ern front importance. Yet no decisive results were reached on this front during the year. ever, Further prog- ress of the Middle- Europe and Bagdad Rail- way plans had en- t e r e d the war on the side of the Al- lies, was conquered. Her rich "w^heat fields and oil wells were taken. She made the third Balkan State that had been added to Teuton territory since the war began. This addition brought the Middle-Europe plan almost to full reali- zation. Greece alone remained neutral. The war was bring- ing ,its reward. Events in Turkey also advanced the railway project. A con- siderable British force from India had marched up the Tigris River toward Bagdad (Fig. 5), winning some victories on the way. But they were surrounded by the Turks and finally compelled to surrender. The force that was lost consisted of 13,000 men. The main part of the railroad that remained to be built was in this region, and this victory brought the possibility of its completion much nearer. 7. The War in 1917 The Germans in France, early in the year, retreated a considerable distance along a fifty- mile front to. positions that they could bet- Fia. 16. — British armored "tank British Official Photograph " passing through a burning village on the way to the front in France.) Russia sprang a surprise on the world in 1917, a surprise whose results for good and evil are thus far vast but un- On the Rus- certain. First came the revolu- sian front tion early in the year, the Czar abdicat- ing in March and the government being taken over by a moderately liberal party. Finally a very radical party, called the Bol- sheviki, obtained control. They ignored all obligation to the Allies, completely under- mined army discipline, and made a separate peace with Germany. Although up to 1917 Russia had fought hard and suffered fearfully on the side of the Allies, she now withdrew from the war. From this year on, therefore, the line of battle in this part 20 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR Fig. 17. of the oast, as indicated in Fi^. 18, entirely disappeared. This with(h-awal was a most severe l)low to the AUies, for the Germans l)ef<;an not only to overrun Russian territory at will, hut also to transport their troops that were not needed in this reoion to other battle lines. This act of Russia had a fearful effect in On the Italian northern Italy. On that line ^^^^^ enormous Austrian forces, many of them brought from Russia, were as- sembled and hurled against Italy. That coimtry suffered terrible losses and the work she had accomplished during the pre- ceding two years was undone. During 1917 the Allies more than re- trieved their recent losses in Checks to the Tigris valley. Early in the theMiddle"- 1, 1 1 " J. ] 1 Europe and year Bagdad was captured by the Bagdad the British and most of Pales- Railway pro- tine also was taken from the J^cts Turks. Jerusalem was surrendered to the THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 21 British early in December of this year. It began to look now as though the Teutons would never extend their railroad to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf, and without the ad- dition of this section the whole scheme lost its value. At the same time a blow was struck against the Middle-Europe plan. The one remaining neutral power among the Balkan States was Greece. Its ruler, King Constantine, was vio- lently pro-German, while a majority of the Greeks favored the Allies. Dur- ing this year Constantine was deposed and Greece joined the Allies (p. 40). This was surely a deep disappointment to the' Teutons. The location of Greece as an Allied power, so close to the Serbians, who were still hostile to the Teutons even though conquered, and so near to the rail- way, might cause strong opposition to both proj- ects at any time. This was the year in which the submarine reached its greatest de- ^ ,, structiveness. Up to the first On the seas » , . • i i i of this year it had been active and, together with mines, had destroyed nearly 4,000,000 tons of merchant shipping. This was only a small part of the entire British merchant marine. But up to this time a great many vessels had been spared from attack. Now on Feb- ruary 1, 1917, the plan of unlimited cruelty was adopted ; the use of the submarine was freed from restrictions and any vessels were attacked and sunk without warning, no matter what nation they represented or who was on them. The civilized world gasjx'd at such frightful- ncss ; but it was believed by the Germans to be a sure means of winning the war, and that was what they sought. Interna- tional law did not count with them. The German people were assured by their leaders that such use of the submarine would bring the English to their knees in a few P'iG. IS. (c) I'nili riniiid mid I'ndcrwood A convoy of ships carrying food and supplies to the Allies. months. The latter had to receive much of their food, ammunition, and other suj)plies from abroad, and Germany thought that the submarine would cut off all such aid. With England out of the war, it would soon end. From January to June they sank 3,000,000 tons of shipping. It was a critical prriod for the Allies. But means for protection against the submarine were developed and its de- structiveness began to decline. England was not starved out and the crisis is past. The policy of frightfulne«s, however, had THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 23 unfavorable consequences for the Germans, which they, no doubt, appreciate now far more than they did then. 8. Additions to the Allied Nations During 1917 eight new countries, repre- senting all parts of the earth, entered New enemies the war against Germany, to the Teutons while not a single new power joined the Teutons. In Fig. 19 note their It meant that it took all this time for these nations to grasp the situation ; to comprehend the objects of the Teutons, and to realize the methods they were adopting in pursuit of these objects. They had been astounded at the absence of all sense of honor on the part of Germany when she invaded Belgium and declared her contract to respect its neutrality only a " scrap of paper." They had been horrified at her brutality toward the Belgians and Fig. 20. — British camp in western France where officers are trained in modern warfare. names and locations. How many continents do they represent? On page 40 there is a list of these powers with the dates on which war was declared. Note these dates. Originally it was generally expected that the war would last only a few months. Their reasons ^^o^^' a^ter two and one half for entering years of awful fighting, these the war onlookers determined to assist in blocking the Teutons, no matter how fearful the sacrifices might be. Why did they take such risk, and all on one side? What did it mean? other conquered peoples. They had been shocked at her selfishness and greed in robbing conquered territory. When the LusHania was sunk, destroying 1198 lives, 114 of them American, they saw that she was inconceivably cruel. When, therefore, her plots and conspiracies began to be un- covered in all parts of the world, they realized that she was wholly unworthy of trust. The significance of Pan-Germanism had now been made clear ; and it menaced the liberties of the world. It was, therefore, the duty of all nations to combine to put it down. 24 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 9. The United States in the War ^ The (U'clitratioii of war h\ the United States meant a <;reat addition to the forces of the r. Allies. Our population is over Our resources ^ * ^ compared with lOO.OOO.OOO, while that of Ger- those of Ger- „iaiiy is less than 7(),()()(),()()(). ™*"^ In area we are far superior to Germany, since we have over 3,000,000 scjuare miles, while she has only 210,000, which is © Underwood and Underwood Fig. 21. — Dis(ributing equipment at the Officens' Training Camp, Plattsburg, N. Y. much less than that of Texas alone. In raw materials, manufactures, and wealth our su- periority o\er Germany is also striking. We produce nearly twice as much coal and iron as Germany, we manufacture more than twice as many goods and oiu' total wealth is about three times hers. In spite of these facts Germany showed con- Why Ger- tempt for us as a possible en- many did not emy. Why ? fear us First of all, because as a people we are remarkably devoted to peace. At the time we declared war oiu* standing army was composed of only about 100,000 men (sec Fig. (i), a very small inunbcr when com])ared with the S6(i,000 in the Cierman standing army. Beyond this ninnber, we had \ery few trained soldiers, while every able-bodied man in Germany had received extensi\e training. On the other hand, peace societies were ninnerous and ac- tive throughout the land, m-ging the avoid- ance of all war, and some influ- ential j)ersons had reached the point where they op- posed allowing children even to play with tin sol- diers because it directed their t h o u g h t s t o o nuich to fighting. As a nation we knew that we would provoke no war; and up to that time we were convinced that no one was likely to attack us. In short, we cher- ished the hope and expectation that all war w^ould be avoided by us in the future. This condition made us harmless in the eyes of the (rcrmans. Also, they saw that even if we were awakened from our dreams about peace, it would be a long time before we could be ready to fight. We lacked not only soldiers, but officers as well ; also an adequate supply of munitions ; indeed, we were without the thousand and one things that Germany had been carefully provid- ing during the last fifty years. No one understood better than she what a mighty THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 25 task it would be for us to get ready to fight. Even if \v e ever finally pre- pared ourselves, the field for fight- ing was at least 3()0() miles away, and we lacked the s h i J) s for transporting our men and their supplies. INTore than that, if by some miracle these were pro- vided, the subma- rine would pre- vent their arri^'ing on the other side. When all these points are considered, certainly the Ger- mans had much reason for feeling safe from us. Fig. Alabamti, where now munitions of war are made. Fiu. 22. — Building "Liberty Ships" on Puget Sound. Geography constantly deals with the seven great occupations of men ; namely, agricul- ture, fishing, lumbering, mining, Qur new m a n u f a c - occupation t u r i n 2: ^^^ *^^ extent transportation, and trade. Our declaration of war on April 6, 1917, added another, that of carrying on war. This has gradually become the greatest of the eight, and one that to a large degree controls all the others. That is a very remarkable fact, when it is remembered that only a few years ago we com- monly believed that we could avoid war. It shows how quickly and completely a great na- tion can change. The great extent of this occupation is sug- gested by a very few facts. In the latter part I Underwood and Underwood 23. — One view of the steel works at Ensley, just outside of Birmingham, 26 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR Fig. 24. — Military map of the summer of 1918 we had over' 3,000,000 men in France or in training at home. It has been often stated that it takes seven or eight workers at home to keep one soldier in the field — so many kinds of work are necessary ; such, for example, as farming, mining, manu- THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 27 of the United States. facture of clothing, munitions, ships, etc., to meet all military needs. If that statement is correct, it would mean that these 3,000,000 are keeping not less than 20,000,000 others fully employed. The center for this great business is our capital, Washington, and prob- 28 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR ably many more than 100,000 clerks and other government employees have been called there ^nce the war began. The city has accord- ingly increased tremendonsly in poi)ulation. possible upon difi'erent communities. It was a question whether such a plan would be accei)table to the ])eople, and during the de- bate in Congress signs were not lacking that Underwood and Underwood Fig. 25. — Training soldiers at Ciiuip Upton, Yapank, Long Island, N. Y. Other government work connected with the war is carried on in hundreds of places throughout the country. The conduct of war calls for undertakings of many kinds, each of which may be a great Our prepara- Inisiness in itself. One of these tion of an was the j)reparation of an ^^^y army. Our first step was to call for volunteer soldiers, and within a few months these troops, together with those that we already had, made an army of a million men. Many <»f these were already well trained for war. Meanwhile it was clear, howe\'er, that se\'- eral millions would be needed if we took the ]iart in the war that belonged to us ; also that it would not do to wait for voluntary enlist- ments. The President proposed to raise the necessary men by " selective draft " or con- scription. By that means the burden of the fighting would be distributed as equally as German influence was at work to defeat the plan. Yet the bill became a law, and all men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty- one were required to enroll for service on a given date. Ten million young men re- sponded. Since all these were not needed at once, it was decided to determine by lot the order in which the men should be colled. The men were also divided into classes ac- cording to conditions that deserved con- sideration in accepting or exempting them. Thus a vast army has been drafted. The training of so many soldiers was a great problem. Nearly all of them were without military experience, having come directl>' from farm, factory, and office. They were assigned to camps or cantonments in many parts of the country, as shown in Fig. '24. Each cantonment is really a new city de- THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 29 signed to be the teiii- porary home of about 40,000 men in training. It is equipped with most of the conveniences of any city, having, for example, a water system, sewage sys- tem, electric lights, telephone, fire de- partment, and e^'en paved streets. As shown on the map, fig. 26 sixteen of these can- tonments were established during the sum- mer of 1917 for the drafted men. Many other cantonments were built for the men who belonged to the National Guard, which had been taken into the service before the conscription act was passed. Thousands upon thousands of engineers, carpenters, plumbers, and other workers, besides vast quantities of lumber and other materials, Underwood and Underwood View of an army cantonment on the historic field of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. were necessary for all this consti'uction in so sliort a time. Our navy was in far better condition for a great war than our army. In Fig. 8 note how it ranked among the navies Development of the Great Powers. of our navy At the time of our entrance into the war the Allied navies of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan were masters on the ocean. German warships, mer- chant vessels, and raiders had been driven from it. But the German sub- marine, which had done much damage since the beginning of the war, had been declared by the German government on January' 31, 1017, to l)e free from all restric- tions, and it was proving fearfully destructive to Allied vessels. At that time the Germans gen- erally relied upon it to bring victory. It was our task, there- fore, to construct more war vessels, as many as we possibly could ; and to increase verv wreath FiQ. 27. — A United States Warship using^a smoke screen in the "danger zone 30 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR I Underwood and Underwood FiG; 28. — A sham battle at Pelham Bay Naval Training camp, Pelham Bay, N. Y. Building of army trans- ports and a merchant marine these purposes; and, since many ships were being sunk e\'ery week hy submarines, a still ^J'^^ter number would have to be built in order to meet this loss. Such vessels as these, used for • transporta- tion of goods in time of peace, are called " mer- chant marine." At the time war was declared by us our merchant marine on the ocean was small. While we had had a great foreign trade, nine tenths of our imports and ex- ports had been carried in ships owned by foreign countries. That was not all. We lacked the equipment, such as the shipyards, machinery, and trained workmen, necessary for building a great number of ships. Also, the number of naval officers and men. This task, like that of preparing a vast army, has l)een accomplished with remarkable success. The purpose of the navy is to destroy the enemy submarines and to afl'ord j^roteetion in other ways. In addition to war vessels it was seen that we ^vould need a vast number of other ships for trans- portation of all sorts of things to Eiu'ope. Sev- eral million soldiers would need to be taken over ; food for them would have to be sup- plied by us, too; also clothing, ammunition, horses, engines, and hun- dreds of other articles. In addition great quan- tities of food would need to be sent to om- Allies, since they could not meet all their own wants. Thousands of vessels would be required lor Fig. 29. — Launching a steer Liberty Ship," shipbuilding yards, Mobile, Alabama THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 31 ships like great buiklings can be built only very slowly. There were many difficulties to be over- come here ; and our progress at first was very slow. We could not hope to accomplish much during 1917; it took time to get the work started. In the spring of 1918, how- ever, results began to appear ; dozens of vessels per month began to be laiuiched, and then as many per week. In one day, July 4, almost one hundred were launched. The number continues to increase at an astonish- numbers. Millions of shoes, blankets, uni- forms, and hats have had to be made. To meet all such requirements hundreds of fac- tories have abandoned their regular work and have undertaken some of these things. Thus one sees how great a business war may be ; it can demand a large share of the efforts of the nation. High officials in Germany had promised their people that even if the Transporta- United States raised a great tion of troops army and secured vessels for its transporta- Undertvood and Udderwood Fig. 30. — A giant American built airplane, used for bombing purposes. ing rate, and now the new vessels built by our Allies and ourselves each month far exceed those destroyed. By our astonishing energy the point of safety has been reached in ship- building. Upon the declaration of war our govern- ment at once began preparations for the ex- tensive manufacture of muni- tions and other articles neces- sary in war. Rifles, machine guns, cannon, and powder had to be pro^'ided in enormous quantities. For this purpose manufacturing centers have been developed that are cities in themselves, given up wholly to this one kind of work. Air- planes, motor-trucks, armored cars, and trans- port wagons have had to be produced in vast Manufacture of munitions and equip- ment tion, it would never be allowed to reach France. There was much doubt among us, too, about the success we should attain in transporting large numbers of men . The first troops were sent over in May, 1917. The number that followed from month to month was watched by us and our Allies — and probably by the Germans also — with great anxiety. There were transported in May, 1917 1,718 .January, 1918 46,776 .June 12,261 February 48,027 July 12,988 March 83,811 August 18,323 April 117,212 September 32,523 May 244,345 October 38,259 June 276,372 November 23,016 July over 300,000 December 48,840 August about 250,000 32 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR Many of the Geriiuuis have foiuul it difli- cult to believe these figures ; and even to us ihey are wonderful. Transportation of people on any such scale upon the ocean has never before been accomplished. It should be remembered, too, that danger in the form of submarines lurked about the Fig. .31. — .Ainerifaii troops disembarkiii;^ at transporting \'essels at every moment. Yet ])ractically not a man has been lost on the way to Europe. By the aid of our allied na^'ies and our own the vessels have been protected on all sides. The courage and en- durance of the men in these navies will be admired in all time to come. Tn order to ])r()vide sjjace on shipboard for so many soldiers, especially in the recent months, the partitions of some of the vessels were removed and all ])ossible space suited for bunks was utilized. The soldiers slept in shifts, each of three shifts occupying the bunks eight hours. It is plahi that the beds were kept very busy. Upon declaration of war German vessels in American ports were seized and have been used in transport service. The larg- est transport of all is the Leviaihan, formerly called the I'aierland, which sailed between Hamburg and New York. Provision of food for our Allies, par- ticularly the English a n d French, is another undertaking that has called for much planning and 1 a u 01 Qyj. provision on our of food for D a r t ^^^ Allies The British are a manufacturing na- tion, relying upon imports from other countries for much of their food. Be- fore the war the want of such imports for e\'en a few weeks would have caused much suffering. Since the war be- gan, large areas that were formerly wooded and were parts of large estates and ])arks have been brought under cultivation. With this improvement it is said that the British can sui)ply enough food to last them at least eight months in the year. To supply the other third from aliroad, however, is no small task. Before the war P^rance was less dependent on imports for food, although she required a good deal. The war, howe\'er, has devas- tated a part of the land ; and, partl>' because so many of the men were engaged in fighting and partly because the soil has lacked fertili- Kadel and Herbert I port in France. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 33 This need furnished an opportunity for every one to be patriotic by doing his bit, particularly by helping to produce more of various kinds of food and to consume less of those that were needed abroad. The success of our efforts is as gratifying in this case as in the others already men- tioned. Our average monthly export of beef before the war was 1,066,000 pounds; and of pork 41 ,531 ,000 pounds. In June, 1918, we zation, her crops have been unusually small. In November, 1917, the United States Food Administration stated that the 1917 wheat crop of France, as compared with that of 191.3, was short over one half or 176,000,000 bushels ; that the potato crop was short about one third or 165,000,000 bushels ; that the sugar-beet crop was short over two thirds or 148,000,000 bushels ; that the num- ber of cattle had decreased one sixth per cent or 2,435,000 head; that the number of sheep had de- creased over one third or 5,535,- 000 head; and that the number of hogs had de- creased two fifths or 2,825,- 000 head. Both the British and the French had to receive great quantities of food from abroad or give up fight- ing. Heretofore Fig. 32. — Women at Washington, D.C., learning to run a tractor in order to do farm work. these imports came largely from Canada, Australia, Argen- tina, and other agricultural countries. But ships were lacking for transportation of wheat all the way from Australia, and for several reasons many of these other countries have not been able to supply as much as usual. Thus it was that the United States was left to furnish it. Our country as well as England ranks high in manufacturing ; in fact the United States is the greatest manufacturing nation. Yet we pro- duce most of our food and have always exported some. Now it became necessary for us to ex- port far more. Wheat and meat were the things most needed ; and under Mr. Hoover's lead we set to work to secure enough to save our Allies. sent abroad 92,173,000 pounds of beef, and 169,331,000 pounds of pork. Our export of wheat has likewise been tremendously in- creased. These are facts that have con- vinced our Allies — and the Germans, too — that we can be depended upon. Care of the wounded is another phase of war that has called for nuich planning and a great munber of workers. In Care of the ancient wars little pro\'ision was wounded made for those who were injured. They died from lack of care if their wounds were serious. Now, unless a wound is very serious, the man is expected to reco^'er and to return to the ranks. It is a matter of economy as well as humanitv to attend to him. 34 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR The soldier is not only cared for when he is wounded, but is kept in health if pos- ^sible. It is the business of doctors to be on the lookout for contagious diseases, to inspect drinking water, to w^atch over food. orphans and feeds refugees until they can care for themselves. Wars are now fought by citizen soldiers. If possible, they should come . . back home at the end of the ^he comfort war better and entertain- -^>^ Fig. 33. — Filing pledges to save food at the office of the mission, New York. and to see that camps are in a sanitary con- dition. The Red Cross Society is organized under supervision of the government to do much of this work. It has many doctors and trained nurses. Under them are assistants who bring the wounded to hospitals for treatment. They help the men with their mail and aid them in communicating with parents and friends. In the regions ruined by war the Society helps to look after homeless people. It finds temporary shelter for widows and than when ment of sol- they left. ^'''' Their leisure time, there- fore, should be properly spent, and they should have such comforts and entertainments as will keep them healthy minded and happy. A great force of workers is employed to assist the ^^^^^ ^^^ soldier in these respects. 0r^^S^m iH They lead in many kinds of games, they organize schools, exhibit motion pictures, fiu-nish music and reading matter, and establish stores where needed articles can be bought at reasonable ^c--^^^^^^ prices. The fighting >i"Jv*?'tr: -;^^^ power of men is much affected by such care, as well as their health and morals. Such organi- zations as the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, and Jewish societies have assumed responsibility for this work, 10. The War in 1918 In the west the Germans aimed at the Chaimel ports, especially Calais, and at Paris. Their plan was to break through On the wes- tlie line of defense at once, or by tern front one drive after another to bend it until it would have to give way. The drives began in ]\Iarch, and one after another was made Underwood and Underwood Food Conservation com- THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 35 with tremendous force. The Allies had to yield extensive areas, until, on July 15, the line stood as shown in Fig. 18. On July 15 another terrific drive began which allowed the Ger- mans to cross the Marne. The French suffered heavy losses ; but the American Army was in the line, and helped to meet the shock. Our men fought like ^•eter- ans and helped drive the invaders back across the IMarne. Then the Allies forced an offensive of their own and forced the Teutons to retreat further until Paris was made safe from attack. This second battle of the Marne seems likely to be remembered as the turning point in the war. Though the French forces were of course far larger fi*^^|fef ^^-^^^ ^♦^ British Official Photograph Fig. 35. — American troops on their way to the trenches on the British front, Fig. 34. than ours, General Pershing had o()0,0()0 men in this battle, and 1,()00,()()() more in other parts of the line or in reserve. The great energy and skill that our country had shown dur- ing more than one year in cre- ating an army, building ships, and transport' ing men had now begun to count. Other attacks made by the Allies soon after brought further disaster to the Teutons. On the Italian front, also, the tide On the ^rgg Italian front turned in favor of the Allies. Q -1' 04 ?^ c \^ H r K f^ o -< 35 D O w ?; T' W K >^ -" K H o y. T *-H ^ O >^ X H clj < -51 < Ph UJ "s K r—, I s ^ *- 0, :j ■s 2 36 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 37 A great Austrian drive had been planned to crush Italy, while the British and French were kept too busy to give aid. This took place in May. At first success appeared to be with the Teutons. Then the Italians rallied, de- feated them, and drove them back. The Austrian leaders had promised their army food and supplies in abundance in the con- quered territory of fertile northern Italy. Money was eAen issued to them in advance to be spent in Venice. But there was no op- portunity to use it. Instead the arm;s' marched in great haste in the opposite direction, leaving be- hind them thousands of dead and of prison- ers and vast quanti- ties of war material. The state of affairs in Russia continued to worry the Allied nations, for the Ger- Events in m a n s Russia ^v e r e obtaining a firmer and firmer hold upon the country. Many persons urged armed intervention by the Allies. They be- lieved that a large part of the population, especially in Siberia, was hostile to Germany and would welcome an Allied army sent for their protection. It could best be sent, they thought, by way of Vladivostok (Fig. 455, main text) and might well be accompanied by experts who should help in reorganizing the government, industry, and education. Such a plan might finally, also, restore the battle line in Russia and thus compel Ger- many to withdraw soldiers from the west in order to oppose it. There was one important objection to such a move. To many of the Russians it might seem a plan for the conquest of their country by the Allies, and thus drive them into open sympathy with Germany. At the present time it appears that this objection has been overcome and that l)oth military and civil aid, as just indicated, will be sent to Russia in increasing quantity in the near future. In August Allied forces were landed on the INIermon coast and occupied Archangel on the White Sea (Fig. 358, main text), others in Vladivostok. These forces cooperated with © CommlUcc on Public Information Fig. 37. — French children greeting American soldiers on their way to the front in France. forces of friendly Russians and former subjects of Austria-Hungary who had been prisoners in Russia but now asserted their independence. The most important of these forces were the Czecho-Slovaks who had come from Bohemia and other subject states of Austria- Hungary. American participation in the war on a still vaster scale was assured when in August the limits of the draft age were lowered from twenty-one to eighteen and raised from thirty-one to forty-five, thus making avail- able several million more soldiers for the next year's campaign. 38 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 11. Cost of the War ^ There is no accurate wav- of estiinatinji; a great many of the costs of war. For exani])le it is difficult to assign a definite cost to the loss of a life, to a wound that partly or wholly disables a man for work ; to loss of health owing to exposure ; the pain endured by a Values that cannot be estimated © Underwood and Underwood Fig. 38. — American soldiers, veterans returned from the front to take part in the Third Liberty Loan campaign. wounded man even though the wound finally heals ; the life-long sorrow and loneliness due to death of loved ones ; the neglect in educa- tion and other care that children sufYer when they have been made orphans ; the anguish caused by the separation and partial destruc- tion of families living in the region of fighting. All such things are to be counted among the costs of war; indeed, they are the main costs because they show what a fearful thing war is, and should always be kept in mind when the glories of war are mentioned. Yet there is no way of estimating their worth. A few of the very many kinds of work re- quired for the conduct of war have been briefly described. Each of Expenses of these calls for vast sums of the war money. For example, the pay of a private soldier is thirty dollars per month, with an extra allowance of three dollars per month for foreign service. Three million sol- diers therefore wotdd cost the nation close to one htmdred mil- lion dollars per month. Clothing is an additional item, costing much more during war than in time of peace. It is estimated that dur- ing peace times each soldier, f ti 1 1 y e(juipi)ed, costs our government fifteen luuidred dollars a year. A single great camion costs many thousands of dollars, and a single shot from it at least several himdreds. The num- bers of men engaged in this war far exceed those in any previous war, and the expenses reach fabulous sums. In order to raise the money the govern- ments have not only levied imusually high taxes but have also borrowed extensively. Each nation had debts before the war be- gan ; but they have all been tremendously increased since that date. The indebtedness total debt of each country ac- of the leading cording to the latest estimates of "^t'O"^ ^^ w^*" the Department of Commerce of the United States was as follows : THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR 39 Nation Debt Percent op Indebtedness Great Britain and Ireland (l915)i . $5,673,374,000 . 7.09 France (1914) . . $6,347,540,000 . 7.96 Russia (1916) . . . $8,649,425,000 . 21.62 Italy (1914) . . . $3,043,926,000 . 15.21 United States (1916) $ 989,220,000 .55 Germany (1915) . . $6,191,544,000 . 10.32 Austria-Hungary (1914) . . $1,043,675,000 ] Austria, alone (1914) . . . $1,515,871,000 ^ 15.58 Hungary, alone (1913) . . . $1,338,348,000 J ^ Year for which the estimate was made. It is possible to estimate the worth of all the property owned by each nation and thus find its total wealth. Then by comparing the debt of each with this total wealth its percent of indebtedness can be shown. Note this per cent in the table. Observe that the wealth of the United States far ex- ceeds that of any one of the other countries. In fact, it is as '^^^ security great as that of several of them states loans added together. Observe, also, that our per cent of indebtedness is. smaller than that of an^' one of the other Powers. WEALTH S 50.000, ^ 000,000 S 100,000.000.000 S 150,000.000,000 UNITED STATES ••• GREAT BRITAIN -- FRANCE. -- RUSSIA..,. ITALY BELGIUM... PORTUGAL GERMANY. AUSTRIA- HUNGARY - TURKEY..-. BULGARIA. SI80.000.000.000 ...80,000,000,000 ...65,000,000,000 ...40,000,000,000 ...20,000,000,000 9,000,000,000 ....2,500,000,000 60,500.000,000 25,000,000,000 9.000,000,000 i 2,000.000.000 \ ■'>;^^;^^^-^^^y.^:^^:^^^^:ii:^^ ' - '■'■'^^^^i^^^ '^y^^i^^^:^^^^^^i^yyy^y^.^^/yy:^ ^^^%#^^ :-%^^ Fig. 3f». This means that the loans we make to our Government are far safer than those made to any one of these other Powers. In other words, our investments in United States l)onds and war savings stamps are the safest investments in the wide world. That is something to make us proud, and also to make us eager to make more loans to Uncle Sam. 40 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT WAR Nation France DECLARATIONS OF WAR ALLIED POWERS Declaration of War Against Germany Austria Turkey Bulgaria 1914 Aug. 3 Aug. 13 Nov. 5 Great Britain Germany Austria . Turkey . Bulgaria . Serbia Germany Turkey . Bulgaria . Montenegro Austria . Germany Aug. Aug. Nov. Aug. Dec. Aug. Aug. Japan Russia Turkey . Bulgaria . Portugal Germany Ttqiv Austria . ^^ ^ Turkey . Bulgaria . CJermany San Marino Austria . Roumania Austria . Greece Germany Bulgaria . United States Germany Austria . Cuba Germany Panama Germany Austria . China Germany Austria . Brazil Germany Siam Germany Austria . Liberia Germany Germany ^"S- Nov, 8 9 23 3 Nov. 23 CENTRAL POWERS Nation Declaration of War Against 1914 Germany Russia 'Aug. 1 France Aug. 3 Belgium Aug. 4 Portugal Roumania Austria Serbia Russia Montenegro Japan July Aug. Aug. Aug. Belgium Aug. 28 Turkey Allies . . Roumania Nov. 23 Bulgaria Serbia 1916 1917 Oct. 16 Oct. 15 Oct. 16 Oct. 19 May 24 Aug. 21 Oct. 19 May 24 Aug. 28 Aug. Nov 27 28 1916 Mai. 9 Sept. 14 Aug. 29 July 2 July 2 Apr. 6 Dec. 7 Apr. 7 Apr. 7 Dec. 10 Aug. 14 Aug. 14 Oct. 26 July 22 July 22 Aug. 4 1917 Oct. 14 NATIONS THAT HAVE SEVERED RELATIONS WITH GERMANY Bolivia Apr; 14, 19 / Guatemala April 2/^, 1917 Honduras May J'.lQi Nicaragua May 18, 1917 ' Declaration of war by the provisional government of Greece. Haiti . . Costa Rica Peru Uruguay . June 17, 1917 Sept. 21, 1917 Oct. 6, 1917 Oct. 7, 1917 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 021 547 873 7 • LIBRARY OF CONGRESS # 021 547 873 7