Need of a united front
245. Foch the Allied Supreme Commander.Before the spring of 1918 each of the Allied armies had been acting on its own plan. The places where the trenches of twoarmies came together were, of course, the weakest, and were favorite points for German attacks. It was now decided to have one commander for all the Allied forces. Foch, a French general highly skilled in the science of war, was chosen for this great task.
TRANSPORTS CARRYING AMERICAN TROOPS CONVOYED BY BATTLESHIPS
TRANSPORTS CARRYING AMERICAN TROOPS CONVOYED BY BATTLESHIPS
TRANSPORTS CARRYING AMERICAN TROOPS CONVOYED BY BATTLESHIPS
The German advance
246. The Crisis of the War.In their great drive the Germans always struck at the weakest point. They found this where the French and English armies were joined. They drove forward in mass formations or solid blocks. Thousands upon thousands were mowed down by the English and French guns, but on they came. Back, back the Allies fell, day after day, until the Germans reached the Marne again. The world held its breath. Each day the Germans were expected to break through, but each day the Allied troops retreated. Slowly they moved, fighting like demons and always holding at vital points.
American troops scattered along the front
America was eager to be of the greatest possible help in the grave danger to Paris and France. The Allies wereshort of reserves. General Pershing, putting his own honors second in the same generous way he had done at school, decided to scatter the Yankee troops all through the French and British lines, wherever they were needed.
Rushing troops to France
Germany had sneered at our nation because she thought our people were so devoted to dollars that we could not or would not fight. Now she began to learn how high the war spirit flamed in the soldiers we were preparing to send by millions to France. By the help of England's great fleet, we were able to send over more than a million men by the summer of 1918. The American troops then formed a united army, fighting under their own flag. They took over a hundred miles of the front, relieving tired Frenchmen. Another million arrived by November.
The Allied command gave Pershing command of the region between the Aisne and the Marne. The Germans thought the Americans untried, and expected to break through by using their best "shock troops."
The battle of Château-Thierry
In July the Germans struck a terrific blow at Château-Thierry. Without waiting for artillery, Pershing struck, and in six hours had captured as much ground as the Germans had spent six days in getting possession of. The Americans were advancing with great rapidity. The Germans were dumbfounded. They did not have time to remove their supplies.
The turning point of the war
By the brilliant generalship of Foch the great German attack was stopped in the middle of July, and after that it was the German army which was in danger.
Now Pershing got ready for St. Mihiel. He drew from the French and English ranks the Americans he had sent to learn war from these veterans. Now he alsohad tried men. St. Mihiel was important. It threatened the famous battlefield of Verdun and protected the great German fortified city of Metz.
SUBMARINE PURSUED BY AIRPLANE
SUBMARINE PURSUED BY AIRPLANE
SUBMARINE PURSUED BY AIRPLANE
American victory at St. Mihiel
247. Germans Cry "Kamerad."On September 12 the Americans burst forth in a rain of shot and shell such as the Germans had seldom before witnessed. The fierce battle raged for four hours. The Americans then charged across the river yelling like demons. The German soldiers had been taught to despise these "green American troops." But these same Germans now cried "Kamerad" in dead earnest. Five miles of ground were gained before these "green" Americans halted.
The next day our artillery opened fire at 1:30 in the morning. Before the day was done, more than one hundred and fifty square miles of German territory were in our possession.
Both the French and the English were busy. The French were driving at the center of the great line stretching from the North Sea to Switzerland. The English were driving the Germans out of the Belgian cities.
The greatest American battle
248. Battle of the Argonne.Many large battles were fought by the Americans, besides the smaller clashes that occurred. The greatest one was in the Argonne Forest. This was a half-mountainous, woody country, much of which was covered with underbrush. The Germans had fortified it strongly. Besides their great cannon, they had filled the Argonne with nests of machine guns, placing them in gullies and behind trees, stumps, and rocks, for protection. Here too, they had their best fighting men.
The battle started on September 26. This was the most bloody fighting of the war. Companies and regiments were cut off and lost for a time. The Germans were bound to hold the forest, and the Americans were bound to win it. Gradually the Germans were forced back, thousands were captured, and thousands more were killed. They could not stem the American tide. After many days of hard fighting in which the Americans proved themselves fully equal to the best shock troops of the German army, victory fell to the better army.
Allied victories on all fronts
The storm was just breaking loose on Germany. The combined navy of the Allies was choking out her life in spite of the submarines. The English in Asia were capturing the strongholds of the Turks, and the Italians now were gaining against the Austrians. Calamities came fast. Bulgaria, an ally of Germany, surrendered. Turkey followed. The hungry people of Germany began to plot revolution against their rulers, and the armies were retreating toward the Rhine.
249. The Kaiser Runs Away.Seeing that his cause was lost, the German ruler, the Kaiser, gave up his throne and fled to Holland. The German generals agreed to an armistice November 11, 1918, by which they gave up much fighting material and moved back many miles across the Rhine into their own land.
The bravery of ordinary men
250. American Soldiers in Battle.The American doughboys were splendid fighters. The officers had to check the rash daring of their men, they did not need to urge them forward. The Americans were drilled in methods of attack rather than defense, from the start. A joking comment was made that it took only half as long to train American troops as it did others, because they only had to be taught to go one way.
The ordinary American showed what courage lay behind the quiet round of his peace-time life. Our soldiers were clean and full of high spirits, and they were keyed to the most stubborn efforts by knowing that they were not fighting in a selfish cause. They "fraternized" famously with the French children of the villages.
Work of the Peace Conference
251. The Treaty of Peace.After the armistice, the nations which had won the victory planned to meet at Paris to make a treaty of peace. President Wilson went over to France to take part in this meeting.
The men who made the peace treaty gave France her two states, Alsace and Lorraine, which Germany had taken in the war of 1870. They divided Austria into a number of separate states, giving to each kind of people its own government. They took land from Germany and Russia and created Poland. They also decided that Germany should pay Belgium and France for the destruction of property in those countries.
Opinion favors a League
Why the League was defeated
252. America and the League of Nations.Included in the treaty was an agreement called the League of Nations. Its purpose was to combine all nations, great and small, in a covenant which would work for the peace of the world. The need of a league was urged by men of different parties in this country during the war. A great number of Americans were in favor of such a world agreement. This country had always been a peace-loving people, and had fought in the hope that this would be a war to end war. But after the armistice Europe remained more unsettled than anyone had expected. In spite of all the treaties, wars of various kinds continued in Europe. President Wilson toured the country speaking for the League, but met much opposition. The American people came to believe that under the League they would be too closely bound up with European affairs, which were now so disturbed.
In 1920 the question of entering the League in its original form was widely debated. It was the chief point on which the presidential election turned, and the result was overwhelmingly against the League as it had been drawn up at Paris.
The Leading Facts.1.This war was so great that it needed the support of every American citizen.2.People at home had to do without many things needed by the army and by the Allies.3.Nearly all the great powers of Europe were drawn into the war.4.Germany, contrary to treaty, invaded Belgium.5.The German navy was quickly driven from the seas, and Germany was blockaded.6.The American government remained neutral, but most of its people favored the Allies.7.Germany sank theLusitaniaand other vessels illegally.8.President Wilson did not lead the nation into war until the people were unitedly in favor of it.9.When Germanydeclared that her submarines would obey no law, and the United States entered the war.10.Congress voted billions of dollars for war.11.A selective draft raised a great national army.12.The part of the average man in this war stands out more than that of famous leaders.13.This was a war of science, and by far the greatest war in history.14.Pershing was given command of the American army.15.When Russia withdrew from the war Germany used her extra troops for a final great attack.16.Foch was put in command of all the Allied armies, and turned the Germans back.17.The United States sent more than two million men in all overseas.18.The peace treaty changed many boundary lines.19.Americans wished to uphold world peace, but in the election of 1920 defeated the League of Nations as it stood.Study Questions.1.Name some of the things that were done in American homes to win the war.2.Why did everyone wish to do his part?3.Why was the United States so late in entering the war?4.Make a list of the principal countries that took part in the World War.5.What was the importance of the invasion of Belgium?6.Give the story of the war at sea.7.What disputes occurred between the United States and the different warring countries before 1917?8.Tell briefly Wilson's life before he became President.9.How did Germany's treatment of the United States lead to war?10.How did the United States "mobilize" for war?11.What means were used to raise a national army?12.What was done to take care of these millions of men?13.What did the United States need most at the start?14.Why was this "a war of science"?15.What training had Pershing had for his new position?16.Tell some events of Pershing's boyhood.17.What was the great danger in 1918?18.Give a number of reasons why a supreme commander for the Allied armies was needed.19.What action of General Pershing's reminds you of the boy, John Pershing? Why?20.Tell about the battle of Château-Thierry; of St. Mihiel; of the Argonne.21.What events led up to Germany's surrender?22.Who in your opinion was the real hero of this war?23.What did the Peace Conference do?24.Do you think we should enter a world league of nations?Suggested Readings.Rand McNally'sSchool Atlas of Reconstruction; Perry,Our Navy in the War, 170-175.
The Leading Facts.1.This war was so great that it needed the support of every American citizen.2.People at home had to do without many things needed by the army and by the Allies.3.Nearly all the great powers of Europe were drawn into the war.4.Germany, contrary to treaty, invaded Belgium.5.The German navy was quickly driven from the seas, and Germany was blockaded.6.The American government remained neutral, but most of its people favored the Allies.7.Germany sank theLusitaniaand other vessels illegally.8.President Wilson did not lead the nation into war until the people were unitedly in favor of it.9.When Germanydeclared that her submarines would obey no law, and the United States entered the war.10.Congress voted billions of dollars for war.11.A selective draft raised a great national army.12.The part of the average man in this war stands out more than that of famous leaders.13.This was a war of science, and by far the greatest war in history.14.Pershing was given command of the American army.15.When Russia withdrew from the war Germany used her extra troops for a final great attack.16.Foch was put in command of all the Allied armies, and turned the Germans back.17.The United States sent more than two million men in all overseas.18.The peace treaty changed many boundary lines.19.Americans wished to uphold world peace, but in the election of 1920 defeated the League of Nations as it stood.
Study Questions.1.Name some of the things that were done in American homes to win the war.2.Why did everyone wish to do his part?3.Why was the United States so late in entering the war?4.Make a list of the principal countries that took part in the World War.5.What was the importance of the invasion of Belgium?6.Give the story of the war at sea.7.What disputes occurred between the United States and the different warring countries before 1917?8.Tell briefly Wilson's life before he became President.9.How did Germany's treatment of the United States lead to war?10.How did the United States "mobilize" for war?11.What means were used to raise a national army?12.What was done to take care of these millions of men?13.What did the United States need most at the start?14.Why was this "a war of science"?15.What training had Pershing had for his new position?16.Tell some events of Pershing's boyhood.17.What was the great danger in 1918?18.Give a number of reasons why a supreme commander for the Allied armies was needed.19.What action of General Pershing's reminds you of the boy, John Pershing? Why?20.Tell about the battle of Château-Thierry; of St. Mihiel; of the Argonne.21.What events led up to Germany's surrender?22.Who in your opinion was the real hero of this war?23.What did the Peace Conference do?24.Do you think we should enter a world league of nations?
Suggested Readings.Rand McNally'sSchool Atlas of Reconstruction; Perry,Our Navy in the War, 170-175.