A School History of the Great War Part 4

On July 31 the German government, on the ground that Russia's mobilization was a threat of war, sent ultimatums to both Russia and France. The ultimatum to Russia gave that government twelve hours in which to stop all war preparations against both Germany and Austria. The ultimatum to France informed that government of the message just sent to Russia, and demanded a reply within eighteen hours as to whether France would remain neutral in case of war between Germany and Russia. The crowds in the streets of Berlin went wild with joy over the news of the two ultimatums. There were cries of "On to Paris" and "On to St.

Petersburg." The Kaiser addressed his people from the balcony of his palace. In the course of his speech, he said, "The sword is being forced into our hand." The government of Germany had decided to make its people believe that they were about to fight in self-defense.

Russia would not demobilize her armies under a German threat.

Consequently the next day, August 1, Germany declared war upon Russia.

Two days later, August 3, Germany declared war on France because that country had refused to desert her ally in this time of danger. The greatest war of all history had begun.

GREAT BRITAIN ENTERS THE WAR.--The German military leaders felt sure that Great Britain would remain neutral in case of a general European war. They based this belief on the peaceful temper of the English people, upon the serious domestic problems she was facing, such as the question of woman suffrage, Irish Home Rule, and the threatening labor situation. Germany regarded England as a nation of shopkeepers who would not fight unless they were attacked. After Germany had made herself supreme on the Continent England's turn would come.

Great Britain's agreement with France and Russia, the other members of the Triple Entente, did not go so far as to require her to join them in case they should be involved in war. It is difficult to say whether or not Great Britain would have decided to enter the conflict at this time if a new element had not been introduced into the question by Germany's invasion of Belgium. Of this invasion more will be said in the following chapter. All that need be mentioned here is that Germany, in spite of a long-standing treaty to observe Belgium's neutrality, had decided on marching through that country as the best route to Paris. Great Britain, as one of the nations which had promised to protect the neutrality of Belgium, immediately demanded of the German government that it withdraw its plan of invasion. Germany refused, and on August 4 Great Britain declared war. So one week after Austria's declaration of war against Serbia all the powers of the Triple Entente--commonly called the Allies--were in arms against Germany and Austria. Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, on August 1 declared herself neutral, much to the disappointment and anger of the Central Powers, her former allies. Her treaty with them provided that she should come to their aid only in case they were attacked, and so did not apply to the present war, in which Germany and Austria were the aggressors.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.--1. Locate the Kiel Ca.n.a.l. What is its other name? When and why was it constructed? 2. Locate Potsdam, Belgrade, Serajevo. 3. Define ultimatum; mobilization; "Der Tag"; Jugo-Slavs. 4. What is the meaning of the prefix "pan" in Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism, Pan-Serbism? What do you know about each of these movements?

5. What is a declaration of war? Who has the power to declare war in the United States? In Germany? 6. Where are the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina? How were they governed before 1878? Between 1878 and 1908? Since 1908? 7. Review the efforts for peace made by the British government between the Austrian ultimatum and Germany's final declarations of war.

Explain the att.i.tude of Austria, Russia, France, and Germany during these days.

REFERENCES.--_War Cyclopedia_ (C.P.I.); _Study of the Great War_ (C.P.I.); _The Government of Germany_ (C.P.I.); Davis, _The Roots of the War_.

CHAPTER VIII

THE WAR IN 1914

GERMAN PLAN OF ATTACK.--As soon as the German leaders had determined upon war, their military machine was set in motion. The plan was first to attack France and crush her armies before the slow-moving Russians could get a force together; and then, after the defeat of France, to turn to the east and subdue Russia. The success of the plan was dependent upon the swift overthrow of France; and this in turn hinged upon the question as to whether German armies could invade France before the French were ready. Speed was the essential thing, and in order to gain speed Germany committed one of the greatest crimes in modern history.

From the nearest point on the German boundary to Paris is only one hundred and seventy miles. But no rapid invasion of France could be made in this direction for two reasons: first, because of the very strong forts which protected the French frontier; and second, on account of the nature of the land, which presents to the east a series of five easily defended ridges, each of which would have to be stormed by an invader. A German attack directly across the French frontier could move but slowly past these natural and military obstacles; and the French nation would have ample time to mobilize its forces.

Consequently the German military leaders determined to attack France from the northeast. Here a comparatively level plain stretched from Germany through Belgium and France up to Paris itself. Many good roads and railways traversed the land. Few natural barriers existed to aid the defenders, and France, trusting to the neutrality of Belgium, had no strong fortifications on her northeastern frontier. One obstacle to German invasion existed; it was what the German Chancellor once[2]

called "a sc.r.a.p of paper"--a promise to respect the neutrality of Belgium, which Prussia, France, and England had agreed to by formal treaties. Similar treaties guaranteed the neutrality of Luxemburg, a small country east of Belgium. Upon these promises France had depended for the protection of her northeastern border; for the German Empire had accepted all the rights and all the duties of the treaties made by Prussia. But now, under the plea of necessity which "knows no law," the German rulers determined to break their promises, violate the neutrality of Belgium and Luxemburg, and crush France before an aroused and alarmed world could interfere.

BELGIUM BLOCKS THE GERMAN PLAN.--The invasion of Belgium had two results which the Germans had not foreseen. In the first place, it brought Great Britain immediately into the war to the aid of Belgium and France. In the second place, the Belgian king and people refused to be bought off with a promise of compensation; they made the high decision to defend their country as long as possible against the terrible German army-machine. Said the Belgian king: "A country which defends itself commands the respect of all; that country cannot perish."

This action of Belgium disarranged the German army plans; instead of reaching Paris according to schedule, the Germans were delayed in Belgium for ten days. These ten days were full of horror and suffering and defeat for the brave Belgians; but they are precious days in the light of history. They gave time for the French to mobilize their armies and bring them up to the northeast; and they enabled Great Britain to send across the English Channel her first hundred thousand troops. In this way Paris was saved from capture, and France from conquest; and probably the whole world from German domination. The German plans for world conquest met their first defeat at the hands of brave little Belgium. The would-be conquerors had forgotten to include in their time-table the elements of honor, patriotism, and self-sacrifice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WESTERN FRONT 1914]

THE GERMAN ADVANCE.--Luxemburg was occupied without resistance, for that little country had no army. On August 4, 1914, the German armies attacked the Belgian fortress of Liege (lee-ezh'), and within twenty-three days Belgium was overrun, its capital taken, and all the important places except Antwerp captured. After the delay in Belgium, the main German armies advanced into France. Here they were met (August 21-23) by French and British troops; but the defenders were not yet strong enough to stop the German advance. For twelve days they fell back toward Paris, fighting continually, until the invaders were within twenty miles of the city. The French government and archives were withdrawn from Paris to Bordeaux in the southwest, so imminent seemed the capture of the capital. The battle line now extended for one hundred and seventy-five miles eastward from near Paris to the fortress of Verdun.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE.--In the meantime the French commander, General Joffre (zhofr), had secretly been collecting another army with which to attack the invaders on the flank from the west. At the right moment he hurled this army upon the German flank, while the men on the main battle line were commanded to "face about and accept death rather than surrender." On September 6-10 took place the first great battle of the Marne, during which the Germans, under these new attacks, were compelled to retreat fifty miles from their most advanced position. The French armies had rescued Paris in the nick of time. The French government once more returned to its capital. "France had saved herself and Europe."

THE RACE TO THE COAST.--On reaching the river Aisne (an) the German armies had time to entrench themselves and thus beat off the heavy attacks of the French and British (September 12-17). The Allied armies in turn began to entrench opposite the German positions. But both armies turned toward the north in a race to reach the North Sea and outflank the enemy. The Germans were particularly anxious to reach Calais (ca-le') and cut the direct line of communication between England and France. Antwerp surrendered to the Germans on October 9; Lille (leel) on the 13th. In tremendous ma.s.sed attacks the Germans sought in vain to break through the British lines (Battle of Flanders, October 17 to November 15). The German losses were upwards of 150,000 men. On the coast the Belgians cut the dikes of the river Yser (i'ser) and flooded the neighboring lowlands, thus putting a stop to any further advance of the enemy.

TRENCH WARFARE.--By this time the combatants had reached a temporary deadlock. Both had adopted trench tactics, and for over three hundred miles, from the sea to the Swiss border, two systems of entrenchments paralleled one another. The trenches were protected in front by intricate networks of barbed wire. Looked at from above, the trenches seemed to be dug with little system. But they rigidly adhered to one military maxim,--that fortifications must not continue in a straight line, because such straight trenches are liable to be enfiladed from either end. Hence the trenches curve and twist, with here and there supporting trenches and supply trenches. Sometimes the trenches are covered; sometimes dugouts and caves are constructed. Every turn or corner is protected with machine-guns. In some portions of the line these trenches faced one another for over four years with scarcely any change in their relative locations.

GERMAN TREATMENT OF OCCUPIED TERRITORY.--Eastward of the German trenches lay all of Belgium except a very small corner, and the richest manufacturing districts of France, including eighty per cent of the iron and steel industries, and fifty per cent of the coal. On the other hand the Allies had occupied only a small section of German territory at the southern end of the line, in Alsace.

German occupation of Belgium and northeastern France was accompanied by horrible barbarities and systematic frightfulness, which were in violation of the Hague Conventions as well as of other laws and usages of civilized warfare. The aim at first was to terrorize the people and reduce them to a condition of fear and of servility to the conquerors.

Men and women were executed without adequate evidence or trial; many German soldiers were quartered in the homes; at the slightest sign of resistance innocent persons were punished for the guilty; immense fines and forced contributions were imposed upon the communities; furniture, works of art, beautiful buildings, and historic structures were ruthlessly pillaged and destroyed. In the second place, the Germans began a systematic plundering of the occupied country, taking for transportation to Germany anything they deemed useful or valuable.

Nearly every article made of metal, wool, rubber, or leather was seized.

Machinery from Belgian and French factories was taken to German establishments. Households were compelled to surrender bathtubs, door k.n.o.bs and knockers, kitchen utensils, gas fixtures, bedclothes, etc.

Food, farm animals, and farm products were confiscated; and the population was saved from actual starvation only by the energies of Belgium's friends in France, England, and America. At a later time, a third policy of the Germans was to drag Belgian and French young men and women away from their families and relatives and compel them to work far from their homes in factories, fields, and mines. Probably more than two hundred thousand persons were forced into this industrial slavery.

Finally, where the Germans were forced to retire from the lands they had occupied in northern France and in Belgium, they sought to reduce much of the evacuated territory to a desert condition. Not only were bridges and roads destroyed, but houses, factories, and churches were leveled to the ground, and the foundation walls and cellars were obliterated. In some parts of France even the fruit trees and grapevines, the product of many years' growth and care, were systematically destroyed, and everything which might make the land habitable disappeared.

THE WAR IN THE EAST.--As has already been explained, the German military leaders had counted upon a rapid crushing of France by way of Belgium before Russia should have time to complete her military preparations for attacking eastern Germany. But during the time lost through the unexpected resistance of Belgium huge Russian armies were gathered together in Russian Poland for an invasion of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

The western border of Russian Poland is less than two hundred miles from Berlin. But Russia could not advance along this road without running the risk of having the Germans from the north and the Austrians from the south cut off her armies from their sources of supply in Russia. In other words, Russia dared not advance on Berlin without first driving the Germans out of East Prussia and the Austrians from Galicia. Hence the plan of her campaign in 1914 was to invade these two provinces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EASTERN FRONT Dec. 31, 1914]

BATTLE OF TANNENBERG.--Two Russian armies entered East Prussia in the middle of August. At first they met with success. The nature of the country, however, was against them, as there was a chain of almost impa.s.sable lakes, marshes, and rivers stretching across their route. In this difficult territory they were surprised by German reinforcements which had been rushed to the east. In the battle of Tan'nenberg (August 26-31), the German troops under the command of General von Hindenburg inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Russians, capturing 70,000 men and large quant.i.ties of supplies. Hindenburg followed up his success, and the Russians were completely expelled from East Prussia.

THE RUSSIANS OVERRUN GALICIA.--The second part of the Russian plan, the invasion of Galicia, was more successful. In September the important city of Lemberg was taken, and the fortress of Przemysl (pshem'ishl) was besieged. By December almost the whole province was in Russian hands.

South of Galicia, separating it from Hungary, are the Carpathian Mountains. Russian troops penetrated the pa.s.ses of this mountain wall and conducted a series of successful raids upon the plains of northern Hungary.

THE RUSSIAN SITUATION AT THE CLOSE OF 1914.--At the end of the year Russia, while she had achieved success in Galicia, had failed in East Prussia. An advance toward Berlin was for the time out of the question.

Indeed the Germans had themselves taken the offensive and had entered Russian Poland. In October an advance of German and Austrian troops threatened Warsaw, the most important city in Poland. The Russians in spite of strong efforts were unable to drive their enemies entirely out of this region. On the whole, therefore, the Russian situation at the end of 1914 was disappointing. Russia's accomplishment consisted of her victories in Galicia, and, probably more important, the drawing of German troops from the western front and the consequent weakening of Germany's offensive in France and Belgium. Russia was no farther on the road to Berlin than at the opening of the war.

SERBIAN RESISTANCE TO AUSTRIA.--An Austrian attempt to overwhelm Serbia in the first weeks of the war met with disastrous failure. This was due to two causes: (1) the brave resistance of the Serbian troops; (2) the fact that the greater part of the Austrian forces had to be used for defense against the Russian invaders of Galicia. Serbia after severe fighting compelled the Austrians to retreat beyond their own boundaries.

Early in September the Serbians took the offensive and began an invasion of Austria-Hungary. This venture failed, and before long Serbia was once more resisting the enemy on her own soil. Belgrade fell into Austrian hands on December 2. It did not long remain in the possession of the conquerors. On the 14th, it was regained by the Serbians, and the Austrian armies once more expelled. The little Balkan kingdom seemed to be holding her own.

TURKEY ENTERS THE WAR.--In the years before the war, Germany had carefully cultivated the friendship of the Turkish government. By means of intrigue, she had practically made herself master of that country, particularly in military matters. The Turkish army had been trained by Germans, and many of its officers were Germans. Although at the opening of the war Turkey declared herself neutral, she soon showed herself an ally of the Central Powers. There is evidence to show that as early as August 4 she had entered into a secret treaty with Germany. In October Turkey startled the world by bombarding a Russian port on the Black Sea and destroying French and Russian vessels at Odessa. These acts were regarded by Russia as acts of war. A few days later France and Great Britain declared war on Turkey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GERMAN COLONIES and locations of early naval engagements.]

Germany welcomed the entrance of Turkey into the war for two reasons. In the first place she expected that the Mohammedans under English and French rule, that is, those living in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and India, would join the Turkish Sultan, the religious head of the Mohammedan world, and engage in a "Holy War" against Great Britain and France. In this hope she was doomed to disappointment. In the second place Germany rejoiced at the arrival of a new enemy for Russia who might keep the Russians occupied along their southern borders and so weaken their efforts on other fronts.

GERMAN COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC.--During the first four months of the war all of Germany's possessions in the Pacific were lost to her. On the outbreak of the war, Australia and New Zealand promptly organized expeditionary forces which attacked and captured the German colonies and coaling stations situated south of the Equator. German Samoa, the first to be taken, surrendered to the New Zealand expeditionary force August 29. The other German possessions in the South Pacific surrendered to the Australians.

England's ally, j.a.pan, having entered the war August 23, 1914, sent an expeditionary force which captured and occupied the German islands in the North Pacific. Kiaochow (kyou'cho'), Germany's only colony in China, was captured by a combined j.a.panese and British force early in November.

The loss of these colonies so early in the war interfered seriously with German plans for a war on Allied commerce by fast cruisers. In the absence of German coaling stations, the only way such vessels could obtain coal during a long raiding voyage, would be by the chance capture of coal-laden vessels.

GERMAN COLONIES IN AFRICA.--During the last quarter century Germany had succeeded in getting control of considerable territory in Africa.

There were few German colonists there. However, Germany hoped that the Boers, who had recently fought a war with the British, and had been defeated, would attempt to regain their independence. In this case there was also the possibility of capturing Cape Colony and Rhodesia from the British. Much to the surprise and disgust of Germany, the Boers promptly showed their loyalty to Great Britain and aided in capturing the German colonies.

The struggle for Germany's African colonies continued for more than three years. Togo, a comparatively small colony, was captured by French and British troops shortly after the outbreak of the war. Under the Boer leaders, Generals s.m.u.ts and Botha, German Southwest Africa was conquered by July of 1915. Kamerun in West Africa was freed from German forces in 1916. The final chapter in the fight for the German colonies was written in December of 1917, when an army from British South Africa, in cooperation with Belgian forces, completed the conquest of German East Africa.

GERMANY'S FLEET.--When war was declared the German fleet, which had cost the people of Germany a billion and a half of dollars, was something less than two thirds the strength of the British fleet.

Germany's task was to destroy the British fleet or to weaken it to such an extent that it could no longer protect the British trade in food and munitions from over seas, nor a.s.sure the safe transport of troops from Great Britain or her colonies to the various fronts.

THE WORK OF THE BRITISH NAVY.--The British navy had two pieces of work to perform. In the first place its aim was to destroy or bottle up in port the main German fleet so that it should not be able to interfere with the British plans for the war. In the second place squadrons had to be sent out to search for and destroy German squadrons or vessels that were far from home ports at the outbreak of war or that were sent out to raid British and neutral commerce.

COAST PROTECTION.--Both Great Britain and Germany protected their coasts by laying fields of mines in the sea so placed that they would float just under water and arranged to explode on contact with the hull of a ship. Through these mine fields carefully hidden channels gave access to the different ports. So long as ships stayed in port or inside the fields of mines they were safe from attack.

THE BLOCKADE OF GERMAN PORTS.--In July, 1914, the British navy had a grand review. When the review was over, the war clouds were so threatening that the vessels were not dismissed to their stations. At the beginning of the war Great Britain announced a blockade of German ports and a.s.signed to her main fleet the task of carrying out the blockade.

THE BATTLE OF HELGOLAND BIGHT.--Hel'goland is a small island rising steeply out of the North Sea; it has an area of one fifth of a square mile. It was ceded to Germany by England about twenty years before the war. Germany had fortified it and made it a sort of German Gibraltar to protect her chief naval ports. The Bight of Helgoland is the pa.s.sage about eighteen miles wide between the island and the German coast. Here a portion of the British fleet engaged in patrol or scout duty came in contact with a part of the German fleet (August 28, 1914). The arrival of four fast British battleships decided the contest. Germany lost three cruisers and two destroyers, while every British vessel returned to port, though some were badly battered.

GERMAN COMMERCE RAIDERS.--A few days before the outbreak of the war the German fleet in China slipped out of port. The cruiser "Emden" was detached for work in the Indian Ocean, and the rest of the squadron raided over the Pacific. November 1, a British squadron met the German ships near the coast of Chile. In a little over an hour two of the British ships had been sunk and the remainder fled to the south.