America's War for Humanity Part 67

German casualties from the beginning of the war, as compiled in London from German official lists, were set November 10 at 3,755,693. Of this total 910,234 were killed. The total German casualties for the month of October, 1916, reached 199,675 officers and men, of whom 34,231 were killed.

GREAT CAMPAIGNS IN THE BALKANS.

For some time after Roumania entered the war her fighting forces were divided between two campaigns--in the Dobrudja and in Transylvania, the Austrian territory invaded by Roumania as soon as she declared war. On September 15 the Roumanians began a retreat in the Dobrudja, before advancing forces of Germans and Bulgarains led by General von Macksensen. The Russo-Roumanian center was driven back thirty miles, while the German and Bulgarian troops occupied several of the Roumanian Black Sea ports.

Then came a great six-day battle in the Dobrudja, with fighting along a forty-five mile line from ten miles south of Constanza to Cernavoda, on the Danube, and in this battle the Russo-Roumanians were successful, compelling the Teutonic forces to retreat southward toward the border.

For a while Von Mackesen was on the defensive, but in a counter-attack on September 23 he gained a marked victory over the Roumanians.

Gradually the latter were forced to retire, and although they made a desperate resistance to the forces under Von Mackensen the latter reached the coast by October 21, advancing on Constanza, Roumania's chief port on the Black Sea, which was captured October 23. Cernavoda fell on the 25th.

Meanwhile in Transylvania events of a similar character had been happening. At first successful in their invasion of Austrian territory, the Roumanians were unable to hold their advantage, and while the tide of battle was for several weeks in doubt, the German and Austrian troops under General von Falkenhayn at length drove the invaders back across the mountains. By October 8 a Teutonic invasion of Roumania from the northwest was imminent, and two days later the Roumanians were pursued through the pa.s.ses by Austrian troops. By the 17th Teuton forces were five miles inside the frontier.

On October 25 Von Falkenhayn's army stormed the Vulcan Pa.s.s and pushed nearer the railroad at Kimpolong, seventy-five miles from Bucharest.

These successes were not gained, however, without hard fighting, the Roumanians making a desperate stand to prevent the Teuton invasion which threatened their capital. They were aided by a French commander, General Bertholet, and struck back hard at Von Falkenhayn, gaining some signal successes in the last days of October and early in November and capturing several thousand prisoners and much war material. These successes, however, proved insufficient to do more than check the Teuton advance toward Bucharest.

In the Dobrudja, after the capture of Cernavoda by Von Mackensen, there were strenuous efforts by the Roumanians, aided by Russians, to regain their lost territory. In their early retreat they destroyed the great eleven-mile bridge over the Danube at Cernavoda and so cut off for the time being Von Mackesen's threatened drive to Bucharest from the south.

The Roumanians that had been opposing him fell back northward to the Danube forts. They were hotly pursued by Bulgarians, who on October 29 were reported to be at Astrovo, fifty miles north of the Constanza-Cernavoda railway line. The possession of the latter was an immense advantage to Von Macksensen.

General von Falkenhayn continued his advance into Roumania during November and at the beginning of December the battle for Bucharest was ranging on three sides of the capital, with the Roumanians successful at some points, the invaders at others. West of Bucharest the defenders had been pressed back to the Argesu River, while to the northwest the Germanic forces had smashed through the Roumanian lines and were rapidly moving down the Argesu Valley from Pitesci and down the Dombovitza from the Kompelung region.

To the south of the capital, King Ferdinand's troops delivered a powerful counter-attack on December 2 that forced the Teutons back from the Argesu line and reclaimed two villages.

The Russians meanwhile were making a determined effort to relieve the situation at Bucharest by a counter-demonstration in the Carpathians, where on December 3 a great battle was developing in their favor. They had gained a foothold in Kirlibaba, the key to the Rodna Pa.s.s and the plains of Hungary, and were attacking successfully at other points on the 250-mile front. The Russians also had seized the western end of the Cernavoda bridge over the Danube, thus putting a check on any movement of General von Mackensen's troops across the river from Dobrudja.

General Sakharoff's forces continued furious, attacks along the entire line in the Dobrudja.

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN IN THE TRENTINO.

The Italian forces operating in the Trentino continued their activity during the fall and early winter of 1916, continual gains being made in their difficult undertaking. General Cadorna began a new drive on Trieste in October, transferring the weight of his attacks from the Carso sector to the Trentino front. The total number of Austrian prisoners taken on the Isonzo front from August 6 to October 12 was set by the Italian War Office at 30,880. No decided advantage was gained by either side up to December 5, although the Italians continued to take many prisoners and much Austrian war material in the course of their operations, and in November compelled the Austrian generals to transfer many troops from the Roumanian front in order to cope with the Italian attacks, delivered in the most difficult terrain of the entire war and often under weather conditions that tried the hardihood of troops trained to Alpine warfare.

DEATH OF THE AUSTRIAN EMPEROR.

Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, died at Schonbrunn Castle, near Vienna, November 21, at the age of 86. He had ruled for sixty-eight years, his reign being marked by much turbulence in the empire, both political and social, and by a long series of domestic and personal disasters that culminated in the a.s.sa.s.sination of his nephew, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the joint thrones of Austria and Hungary, which furnished the Teutonic excuse for the great war. Francis Joseph was succeeded by his grandnephew, Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, of whose personality little was known outside Austria.

ZEPPELIN RAIDERS BROUGHT DOWN.

Several German Zeppelins were brought to earth on English soil during the progress of aerial raids in September and November, 1916. Commander Robinson and Lieutenants Tempest and Sowery of the Flying Corps each accounted for one of the huge aircraft in the London district The former received the Victoria cross for his exploit. The crew of one of the Zeppelins was captured, but in the other cases the crews perished with the airships, which fell flaming to earth. Two more Zeppelins were brought down late in November on the eastern coast of England and fell into the sea. One of these was destroyed nine miles from the coast by naval seaplanes and a patrol boat.

DEPORTATION OF BELGIAN WORKMEN.

A wave of indignation swept over the civilized world, already outraged almost beyond endurance by the unprecedented German disregard of international law and the recognized customs of war, when it was announced on November 10 that 30,000 Belgians had been deported into exile by the German authorities in Belgium. It was alleged that all males between the ages of 17 and 30 were being sent in cattle-cars to Germany. Cardinal Mercier of Belgium protested in the name of humanity, the men being ruthlessly torn from their families, and said the Belgians were being reduced to a state of slavery. The Pope protested to the German government against the reported action, and the State Department at Washington made representations concerning it to Berlin. The total number of Belgian males to be deported to work in German industries was alleged to be 300,000. After investigation Viscount Bryce of England and many other statesmen and publicists denounced the German action as infamous.

POLAND PROCLAIMED A KINGDOM BY GERMANY.

By a joint manifesto, issued on November 4 by the Emperors of Germany and Austria, the ancient kingdom of Poland was revived and Polish autonomy ostensibly re-established. The kingdom was proclaimed with due ceremony in Lublin and Warsaw. The definite territorial limits of the new nation were not set, according to the proclamation, and would not be until the close of the war. Const.i.tutional rule and a national army, however, were to be established at once. The joint opinion of other nations, neutrals and Allies of the Entente, was that Poland as captured territory could not be recognized as a new kingdom.

THE FALL OF BUCHAREST.

By December 2 the battle for Bucharest had reached the outskirts of the Roumanian capital and the guns of Von Mackensen's forces began a bombardment of the outer forts, and on December 6 the armies of the Central Powers took Bucharest, cutting off a large part of the defending army. Ploesci, the great oil center of Roumania, and Sinaia, the summer capital, also fell. Many thousands of Roumanian troops were taken prisoners in the operations near Bucharest, the number being estimated at 38,500 for the first week of the month, and the Roumanians retired to new positions to the north and east of their fallen capital. General von Heinrich, governor of Lille during the deportation of Belgians from that city, was appointed military governor of Bucharest, on which the Germans imposed a levy amounting practically to $400 a person, or a total of $140,000,000.

Von Mackensen continued to press his advances in the Dobrudja and eastern Wallachia during the month, though r.e.t.a.r.ded by st.u.r.dy Russian and Roumanian resistance. As Christmas approached the forces of the Central Powers were pressing the Russo-Roumanians close to the Danube where it runs east and west, forming the boundary between Roumania and Bessarabia.

CHANGE IN BRITISH GOVERNMENT.

On December 7 Mr. Henry Lloyd-George accepted the British premiership and formed a new Cabinet, which included an important representation of labor and other elements of strength pointing to a systematic and determined prosecution of the war from all angles. The Cabinet as announced December 12 included Sir Edward Carson, the Irish Unionist leader, as First Lord of the Admiralty, and Baron Devonport as food controller, a new position. The size of the war council was reduced to five, including the premier. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe was appointed First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, being succeeded in command of the grand fleet of Britain by Admiral Sir David Beatty, who commanded the British battle-cruiser fleet in the battle of Jutland.

France followed suit in reorganizing her war council under Premier Briand, also restricting the number of members to five, and General Joffre was succeeded in command of the armies of the north and the northeast by General Nivelle, commander of the French troops at Verdun, where notable victories were gained by the French in December, regaining almost all the ground lost during the previous operations of the year.

General Joffre was promoted to the high honor of Marshal of France, the ancient rank being revived for him.

CENTRAL POWERS MOVE FOR PEACE.

On December 12 the Central Powers simultaneously presented notes to neutral powers for transmission to the nations of the Entente, containing a proposal for an armistice to discuss the possibilities of peace. No terms of peace accompanied the German notes and after consultation with the allies of Great Britain Premier Lloyd-George delivered a speech in the House of Commons on December 19, declaring that the proposals of peace could not be entertained, and in which he said:

"I appear before the House of Commons today with the most terrible responsibility that can fall upon the shoulders of any living man as chief adviser of the Crown in the most gigantic war in which this country was ever engaged--a war upon the events of which its destiny depends.

"We accepted this war for an object, and a world object, and the war will end when the object is attained under G.o.d. I hope it will never end until that time.

MUST KNOW BERLIN PLANS.

"We feel that we ought to know, before we can give favorable consideration to such an invitation, that Germany is prepared to accede to the only terms on which it is possible peace can be obtained and maintained in Europe, Those terms have been repeatedly stated by all the leading statesmen of the Allies. They have been stated repeatedly here and outside. To quote the leader of the House last week:

"'Reparation and guarantee against repet.i.tion, so there shall be no mistake, and it is important that there should be no mistake in a matter of life or death to millions.'

"Let me repeat: Complete rest.i.tution, full reparation, and effectual guarantees.

NO HINT OP REPARATION.

"Did the German Chancellor use a single phrase to indicate that he was prepared to accept such a peace? Was there a hint of rest.i.tution? Was there a suggestion of reparation? Was there an implication of any security for the future that this outrage on civilization would not again be perpetrated at the first profitable opportunity?

"The very substance and style of the speech const.i.tutes a denial of peace on the only terms on which peace is possible. He is not even conscious now that Germany has committed any offense against the rights of free nations.

"Listen to this from the note:

"'Not for an instant have they [the Central Powers] swerved from the conviction that respect of the rights of other nations is not in any degree incompatible with their own rights and interests.'

"The note and speech prove that they have not yet learned the alphabet of respect for the rights of others.

"The Allies entered this war to defend Europe against the aggression of Prussian military domination, and, having begun it, they must insist that the only end is the most complete effective guarantee against the possibility of that caste ever again disturbing the peace of Europe.

"You can't have absolute equality in sacrifice. In war that is impossible. But you can have equal readiness to sacrifice from all.

There are hundreds of thousands who have given their lives; there are millions who have given up comfortable homes and exchanged them for daily communion with death. Mult.i.tudes have given up those whom they loved best.

FOR NATIONAL LENT.

"Let the nation as a whole place its comforts, its luxuries, its indulgences, its elegances on the national altar consecrated by such sacrifices as these men have made! Let us proclaim during the war a national Lent! The nation will be better and stronger for it, mentally and morally, as well as physically. It will strengthen its fiber and enn.o.ble its spirit. Without it we shall not get the full benefit of this struggle.

"Our armies have driven the enemy out of the battered villages of France and across the devastated plains of Belgium. They might hurl him across the Rhine in battered disarray. But unless the nation as a whole shoulders part of the burden of victory it won't profit by the triumph, for it is not what a nation gains, but what it gives that makes it great."

PEACE MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT WILSON.