HORRORS OF THE WAR
American Relief for War-Stricken Peoples of Europe—Millions of Dollars Contributed in Cash and Gifts—Canada Aids the Belgians—Devastation of Poland Even Greater and More Terrible them that of Belgium.
Soon after the world became aware of the fact that the German army's progress through Belgium on its dash to Paris in August of 1914 had resulted in the absolute devastation of the little buffer state, an enterprising and sympathetic American citizen, Mr. James Keeley, editor of the Chicago Herald, penned a remarkable open letter "to the Children of America," in which he suggested the sending of a "Christmas ship" to Europe, filled with gifts of a useful character for the little ones of all the belligerent nations. The response was immediate and most truly generous. Newspapers and civic organizations all over the United States joined in gathering from young and old the contributions that freighted a United States warship with a cargo of gifts worth over two million dollars, and at Yuletide these gifts were systematically distributed among the innocent victims of the war in all the countries concerned.
The idea of the Christmas ship was nobly conceived and splendidly executed. Rulers of the belligerent nations recognized the beauty of the idea and paused awhile in their martial activities to welcome and thank the American commissioner who enacted the role of an international Santa Claus. But the slaughter on the fighting lines of eastern and western Europe went on unabated and the peaceful symbolism of the Christmas ship was soon forgotten in the daily recurrence of battle and bloodshed.
AWFUL CONDITIONS IN POLAND
While the frightful state of Belgium commanded the sympathy of the civilized world in the winter of 1914-15, the conditions in Poland were even worse. At the end of March the great Polish pianist, Ignace Paderewski, paid a visit to London on behalf of the suffering Poles and his efforts resulted in the formation of an influential relief committee. Among the members were such men as Premier Asquith, ex-Premier Balfour, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd-George, Cardinal Bourne, archbishop of Westminster; Admiral Lord Charles Beresford and the Russian and French ambassadors. An American woman, Lady Randolph Churchill, also took an active part in the work of the committee, which soon succeeded in raising a large sum for the relief of the most urgent distress in Poland. While in London on his mission of mercy, Mr. Paderewski said:
"Is it the death agony or only the birth pangs? That is the question which every Pole throughout the world is asking himself as tragedy follows tragedy in the long martyrdom of our beloved nation. You have only heard the details of Belgium, but I tell you they are as nothing with what has happened in Poland.
"The scene of operations in Poland is seven times larger than that of Belgium, and she has had to endure seven times the torture. Remember, the battle of Europe is being fought in the east, not in the west, and while the tide of battle has reached a sort of ebb along the trenches about the frontiers of Alsace and Flanders, the great waves roll backward and forward from Germany to Russia and break always on Poland.
"Our country, in fact, is just as Belgium was called—the cockpit of Europe, and it may now be called the battlefield of the world, if not of civilization.
"It is only perhaps we Poles who have known to its utmost depths what this war has really meant. It is not only that there are 10,000, human beings on the verge of starvation, nay, actually perishing; there is worse than that.
"Remember that both Belgium and Poland are still under the yoke. The Russians, it is true, occupy some fifteen thousand miles of our country, but this is really nothing, for the Germans occupy five-sixths of it, and the desolation passes all comprehension.
CALLS IT COMPULSORY SUICIDE
"As to actual battles, I can hardly speak of them. It is torture even to think of them. Only consider! Our one nation is divided as it were into three sections, which were thrust each against the others to work out their destruction. It is parricide! It is fratricide, nay suicide! Compulsory suicide! That is what it is!
"Listen to what it means to us all. I was told by a man from Austria that an army doctor, a Pole by birth, who was deputed to go over the Austrian battlefields and verify identification marks on the bodies, found among the 14,000 dead hardly any but Polish names. He looked in vain for any others, and in the end went mad with horror at the thought of it. Another story that came to me the other day told of another case of the tragedy of Poland which is almost too terrible for the human mind to contain. The incident took place during a charge. Both armies had been ordered to attack, and the Poles, as usual, were in the front lines. As they met in the shock they recognized each other.
"One poor fellow, as he was struck through by a bayonet, cried out in his death agony, 'Jesu Maria! I have five children! Jesu Maria!' The words went as straight to the brain of his conqueror as a dagger to the heart, and killed his reason. Somewhere among the madhouses of Europe there is a lunatic. He is not violent, but he never laughs. He only wanders about with the words of his dying victim, 'Ah, Jesu Maria! I have five children. Jesu Maria!'
"The promise of Grand Duke Nicholas that Poland shall be a nation once again went straight to the very heart of every one of our 25,000, fellow countrymen. That one promise has been sufficient to change the whole mentality of the nation and fill their souls with new hope. It has cleared up any doubt that might have existed in the minds of the Poles in Austria and Prussia as to what it is that the allies are fighting for—namely: the principles of nationality for which we have suffered, ah! how many centuries!"
MILLIONS OF POLES DESTITUTE
The ruin wrought by war in Belgium affected 7,000,000 people. In Poland more than twice that number have been rendered destitute. Not less than 15,000 villages have been laid waste, burned, or damaged in Russian Poland alone. The loss in property has been estimated at $500,000,000, but may reach double that sum.
In Galicia the conditions are reported to be equally appalling, though the smashup has not been as complete, because the Russians have been able to maintain their positions more permanently than they have in the district west and northeast of the Polish capital.
The greater part of Poland lying in a broad sweep of country west, southwest and northeast of Warsaw has been swept over and battered to pieces by shot and shell like the strip of Flanders on both sides of the Yser river.
Without any direct interest in the present great conflict, the unhappy Poles found themselves impressed into the armies of these three great powers and fighting against their own racial brethren. That meant that brother was to fight against brother, and as the stress of the war increased and the age limit was raised to 38 years and even higher, nearly every able-bodied Pole was impressed into service.
Almost the first move of the Russians at the outbreak of hostilities was to invade Galicia. This brought with it instantly all the most frightful horrors of war. Embracing as it does a large part of the grain-growing district of the Polish peoples, the devastation of Galicia meant suffering for not only that province, but for Russian Poland as well. The crops had only been partially harvested by August, when the war began.
The panic of war stopped the work in the fields, even where the peasants were not compelled to flee before the invader. The men were called to the colors and the crops were allowed to rot in the fields. Numerous towns were sacked.
The advance to Lemberg by the Russians was swift. In the panic that followed this great city of 200,000 had scarcely 70,000 left when the invaders took possession. Families were broken up; none of the refugees had time to take supplies or clothes.
Germany's first move against Russia came from the great fortresses along the Oder and Vistula. All of western Poland was overrun. When the Russian advance from Warsaw drove back the invaders, the scars of the conflict left this section of Poland badly battered. Then came Von Hindenburg's victorious armies, and again this section was torn by shot and shell and wasted. While some of the larger places, such as Lodz, Plock, Lowicz, Tchenstochow and Petrokov, were spared, the smaller towns, villages, and hamlets in the direct line of battle suffered equally from the defenders and invaders.
All the section to the northeast of Warsaw between the East Prussian frontier and the Bug, Narew, and Niemen rivers has suffered even a worse fate, as the bitterness engendered by the devastation worked by the Russians in East Prussia led to reprisals that not even the strict discipline of the German army could curb. Not only were the peasants' homes pounded to bits by the opposing artillery fire, but the armies as they fought back and forth took all the cattle, horses, and stock that came to their hands. Disease added to the suffering of the stricken people.
THOUSANDS OF VILLAGES DESTROYED
Henry Sienkiewicz, the great Polish writer and author of "Quo Vadis," a refugee in Switzerland, said, on March 15, 1915:
"In the kingdom of Poland alone there are 15,000 villages burned or damaged; a thousand churches and chapels destroyed. The homeless villagers have sought shelter in the forests, where it is no exaggeration to say that women and children are dying from cold and hunger by thousands daily.
"Poland comprises 127,500 square kilometers. One hundred thousand of these have been devastated by the battling armies. More than a million horses and two million head of horned cattle have been seized by the invaders, and in the whole of the 100,000 square kilometers in the possession of the soldiers not a grain of corn, not a scrap of meat, nor a drop of milk remain for the civil population. "The material losses up to the present are estimated at 1,000,000,000 rubles ($500,000,000). No fewer than 400,000 workmen have lost their means of livelihood.
"The state of things in Galicia is just as dreadful for the civil population—innocent victims of the war. Of 75,000 square kilometers all except 5,000 square kilometers around Cracow are in possession of the Russians. They commandeered 900,000 horses and about 200,000 head of horned cattle and seized all the grain, part of the salt fields, and the oil wells.
"The once rich province is a desert. Over a million inhabitants have sought refuge in other parts of Austria, and they are in sheer destitution."
Truly, "War is hell!"
RELIEF FOR BELGIAN SUFFERERS
Following the invasion and over-running of Belgium by the Germans, the problem of feeding the Belgian population became an urgent one. The invaders left the problem largely to the charitable sympathies of the civilized world, and from almost every quarter of the globe aid was sent in money or provisions for the stricken people. In spite of the enormous war drains upon the resources of the British Empire, every one of the Overseas Dominions did its full share in Belgian relief, while the United States, through the Rockefeller Foundation and other agencies, as well as the South American countries, also contributed to alleviate the suffering in the little kingdom. The contributions continued during more than two years and the relief was administered most efficiently by means of commissions.
RELIEF ASKED FOR SERBIA
On April 3, 1915, the leading United States newspapers printed an appeal received from Nish, the war capital of Serbia, which set forth a terrible situation in terms that confirmed a report already made public by Sir Thomas Lipton, who dedicated his famous steam yacht, the Erin, as a hospital ship for use in the Mediterranean, and visited Serbia in February and March. The appeal was dated February 23 and said in substance as follows:
"Typhus is raging in Serbia, and unless immediate aid be sent the mortality will be appalling. "Typhus is a filth disease and is spread by lice, which flourish only in dirt. There are not enough buildings to house the sick and they lie huddled together on dirty straw.
"They have not changed their clothes for six months, and consequently personal cleanliness, which is absolutely essential in checking the disease, is impossible. They cannot get proper nourishment, as there is not enough available, nor is there money to buy it if it were.
"The doctors can usually only work for two weeks before contracting the disease, as they have no means of protecting themselves. Yet they volunteer for typhus hospitals, knowing that they are probably going to their death, for the mortality is over 50 per cent.
"The following four things are most urgently needed:
"1. Tents and portable chicken runs, as these make excellent houses. There is no lumber in Serbia, so nothing can be built here.
"2. Beds and bed linen. It is impossible to keep straw free from lice.
"3. Underclothing. Dirty clothes make an ideal breeding place for lice.
"4. Disinfectants and whitewash.
"Speedy help is essential, as every day's delay costs hundreds of lives."
The response to this touching appeal was immediate and generous, Germans and Austrians in America contributing freely. A large amount of cash and supplies for the Austrian prisoners was sent to the American consul at Nish, who was also acting consul for Germany and Austria in Serbia.
GERMAN REPORT OF VILLAGES RAZED
A dispatch from Berlin by wireless March 23 stated that according to a report received there from Cracow, the damages due to the war in Poland and Galicia at that time amounted to 5,000,000,000 marks ($1,250,000,000).
In Galicia 100 cities and market places and 6,000 villages had been more or less damaged, while 250 villages had been destroyed. Horses to the number of 800,000 and 500,000 head of cattle, with all grain and other provisions in Galicia had been taken away by the Russians.
LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR
Results of the Battle of the Aisne—Fierce Fighting in Northern France—Developments on the Eastern Battle Front—The Campaign in the Pacific—Naval Activities of the Powers.
With a battle front reaching from the Belgian coast on the North Sea to the frontier of Switzerland, or a total distance of 362 miles, the operations in the western theater of war toward the end of October were being conducted on a more gigantic scale than was ever witnessed before. On both sides reinforcements were being rushed to the front. German efforts to break through the Allies' lines were concentrated on the main center at Verdun and on the right flank of the Allies' left wing, above its elbow, between Noyon and Arras, while powerful coincidal movements were in progress on the extreme western end of the line in Belgium and on the southeastern wing in Alsace. At Verdun continuous fighting of the fiercest character had been going on for over sixty days, surpassing in time and severity any individual battle in history. The army of the Crown Prince had been unable to force the French positions in the vicinity of Verdun and the check sustained by the Germans at this point early in the campaign constituted a principal cause of General von Kluck's failure in his dash toward Paris.
All along the tremendous battle front the allies' lines as a rule held firm in the thirteenth week of the war, when the great conflict had entered upon what may well be called its fourth stage. The third stage may be said to have ended with the fall of Antwerp and the subjugation of all Belgium but a small portion of its southwestern territory. On the main front the Allies were maintaining the offensive at some vital points, while repulsing the German assaults at others. One or two of the French forts commanding Verdun had fallen but the main positions remained in the hands of the French, and all along the line it was a case of daily give-and-take.
FIERCE FIGHTING IN FLANDERS
After capturing Antwerp the Germans pushed on to Ostend, an "open" or unfortified town, and occupied it with slight resistance from the Belgian army, which was reforming its broken ranks to the south, between Ostend and the French frontier, and preparing to contest the passage of the Kaiser's forces across the River Yser. Moving northward from Lille, the Allies encountered the Germans at Armentières, which was occupied by a Franco-British force and there was also fierce fighting at Ypres, where there is a canal to the sea. For more than a week the Belgians gallantly held the banks of the Yser in spite of the utmost endeavors of the Germans to cross, and it was not until October 24 that the latter finally succeeded in getting south of the river, with the French seaport of Dunkirk as their next objective point. Bloody engagements were fought at Nieuport, Dixmude, Deynze and La Bassée.
At this time the battle line formed almost a perpendicular from Noyon in France north to the Belgian coast, south of Ostend. A battle raged for several days in West Flanders and Northern France and both sides claimed successes. The losses of the Allies and the Germans were estimated in the thousands and the wounded were sent back to the rear by the trainful. In the Flemish territory the flat nature of the terrain, with its numerous canals and almost total absence of natural cover, made the losses especially severe. The passage of the Yser cost the Germans dearly and Dixmude was strewn with their dead. And their advance could get no farther.
The necessity of holding the French ports, Dunkirk and Calais, was fully realized by the Allies, who threw large reinforcements into their northern line. The Germans also drew heavily on their center and left wing to reinforce the right, and for a while the forces opposing one another at the extreme western end of the battle front were greater than at any other point. The Germans were firmly held on a line running from south of Ostend to Thourout, Roulers and Menin, the last mentioned place being on the border north of Lille. Flanking attacks being no longer possible, as the western flanks of both armies rested on the North Sea, the Germans were compelled to make a frontal assault along the line formed by the Belgian frontier. As the Belgian troops, assisted by a British naval brigade, were pushed back from the Yser, they were gradually merged into the army of the allies, by whom they were received with the honors due the men who had made, for twelve long weeks, such a gallant and determined defense of their country against invasion and despoilment.
BRITISH WARSHIPS AID BELGIANS
Soon after the German occupation of Ostend, several British warships shelled the German positions in and around the city and aided in hampering the German advance along the coast. The principal vessels engaged in this work were three monitors which were being completed in England for the Brazilian government when the war started and which were bought by the admiralty.
These monitors, which had been renamed Mersey, Humber and Severn, drew less than nine feet of water and could take up positions not far from shore, from which their 6-inch guns and 4.7-inch howitzers, of which each vessel carried two, were able to throw shells nearly four miles across country, the range being given them by airmen.
French warships of light draft later joined the British monitors and destroyers and assisted in patrolling the coast, shelling German positions wherever the latter could be discovered by the aeroplane scouts. One reported feat of the naval fire was the destruction of the headquarters of a German general, Von Trip, in which the general and his staff lost their lives.
From time to time German aerial attacks were made in the vicinity of Dover, across the Straits, but these without exception proved to be without military importance in their results. Steps were taken to organize anti-aircraft artillery forces on the eastern coast of England and the continued failure of Zeppelin attacks, annoying as they were, soon restored the equanimity of the British public in this respect.
INDIAN TROOPS IN ACTION
The first word of the employment of British Indian troops at the front came on October 27, when it was reported that in the fighting near Lille a reserve force of Sikhs and Ghurkas, the former with bayonets and the latter with the kukri (a short, curved sword) played havoc with an attacking force of Germans. "Never has there been such slaughter," said the dispatches. "Twenty thousand German dead and wounded, nearly half the attacking force, lay upon the field, while the British losses did not exceed 2,000."
THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN ALSACE
At the end of October the French right wing in Alsace-Lorraine was reported to be making distinct progress. It was said to be advancing through the passes of the Vosges in the midst of heavy snowstorms. Paris reported that the Germans, who were attempting a movement against the great French frontier fortress of Belfort, had been driven back with heavy losses, while from other sources the Germans were reported to be bringing up heavy mortars for the bombardment of Belfort. There were persistent reports of German defeats in Alsace, but these were repeatedly denied in Berlin. The situation in the territory coveted by the French appeared to resemble that farther west—neither side was making much headway.
THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN
In the eastern theater of war the conflict during October was waged with fortunes that favored, first one side and then the other. Contradictory claims were put forth from time to time by Petrograd, Vienna and Berlin, but the net result of the operations at the end of the thirteenth week of the war appeared to be that while the intended Russian march on Berlin had been completely checked, the Germans had been repulsed with heavy losses in all their attempts to cross the Vistula and occupy Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland, which was at one time seriously threatened.
The fighting along the Vistula was fierce and prolonged for several days at a time. The Germans made numerous attempts to cross the river at different points by means of pontoon bridges, but these were destroyed by the Russian artillery as fast as completed. The slaughter on both sides was considerable. On October 28 the Russian battle front reached from Suwalki on the north to Sambor and Stryj on the south, a distance of about 267 miles. The German operations on the Vistula were still in progress and Poland furnished the main arena of battle. East Prussia was practically free from Russian troops, save at a few points near the boundary, but they strongly maintained their positions in Galicia.
THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN
After eleven weeks' bombardment by the Austrians, the Servian defenders of Belgrade were still bravely resisting, although half the city had been destroyed. The situation was such as to cause at once astonishment, pity and admiration.
In the open field the Servians continued to hold their own against the Austrian forces opposed to them. Their Montenegrin allies, under General Bukovitch, were reported to have defeated 16,000 Austrians, supported by six batteries of artillery, at a point northeast of Serajevo. The battle terminated in a hand-to-hand bayonet conflict which lasted four hours. The Austrians are said to have lost 2,500 men, killed and wounded, while the Montenegrins claimed that their losses amounted to only 300 men.
THE CAMPAIGN IN THE PACIFIC
Beginning with the loss of its colonies in the China sea, Germany was compelled to witness during the first two years of the war the passing into enemy hands of practically all its colonial possessions, which more than balanced its temporary possession of enemy soil in Europe. One by one its colonies in Asia and Africa were captured, and in these operations not only the Japanese but the Belgians assisted, the latter in Africa.
Late in October, 1914, the Japanese received the surrender of Tsing Tau, the important German city in Kiauchau, China. The place had been battered for weeks by land and sea by the Japanese forces, and the surrender was ordered, it was said, to save the German forces and civilians from certain annihilation if a defense by the garrison to the end were to be carried on. German warships were powerless to assist the beleaguered city, as Japanese and English war vessels had driven them far from the coast of China.
The Japanese cruiser Takachiho was sunk by a mine in Kiauchau Bay on the night of October 17. One officer and nine members of the crew are known to have been saved. The cruiser carried a crew of 284 men. Her main battery consisted of eight 6-inch guns.
MAIN FLEETS STILL INACTIVE
Up to the last week in October the main fleets of the warring powers were still inactive, but rumors of intended German naval activity were frequent. The cat-and-mouse attitude of the British and German fleets in the North Sea was continued, the Germans lying snug in their ports, protected by their mines and submarines, while the British battleships lay in wait at all points of possible egress. The situation tried the patience of the people of both countries and there were frequent demands for action by the great and costly naval armaments. But the Germans apparently were not ready to risk a general engagement, and the British could not force them to come out and fight. The British admirals, therefore had, perforce, to pursue a policy of "watchful waiting," irksome as it was to all concerned, and "the tireless vigil in the North Sea," as it was termed by Mr. Asquith, was maintained day and night. No sea captain becalmed in the doldrums ever whistled for a wind more earnestly than the British Jack tars prayed for a chance at the enemy during those three months of playing the cat to Germany's mouse; and on the other hand, the German sailors were, no doubt, equally desirious of a chance to demonstrate the fighting abilities of their brand-new battleships. All were equally on thequi vive, for any hour might bring to the Germans the order to put to sea, and to the British the welcome cry of "Enemy in sight!"
CARING FOR BELGIAN REFUGEES
The plight of the Belgian people, including the refugees in Holland, England and France, was pitiable in the extreme and by the end of October had roused the sympathy of the entire world. A conservative estimate placed the number of Belgians expatriated at 1,500,000 out of a population of 7,000,000. On October 26 Mr. Brand Whitlock, United States minister to Belgium, reported that the entire country was on the verge of starvation, while Holland and England had their hands full caring for the Belgians who had sought refuge in those countries. In eight cities of Holland there were said to be 500,000 Belgian refugees. Over 70, arrived in London in one week and a central committee in London had twenty-seven subcommittees at work in different cities in England, Scotland and Wales, placing the refugees in homes as rapidly as possible. The humanitarian problem of taking care of the Belgians was one of tremendous responsibility, but the people of the three countries in which most of them sought refuge rose nobly to the occasion and spared no effort to lessen their sufferings.
MORE CANADIANS FOR THE FRONT
It was announced in Ottawa, Canada, on October 19 that the Dominion Government had decided to put 30,000 more men in training in Canada, to be despatched to England when ready. As soon as the first unit of 15, was embarked, probably in December, another 15,000 men would be enlisted to replace them, the plan being to keep 30,000 men continuously in training, to be drawn upon in units of 10,000 or 15,000 as soon as equipped, during the continuance of hostilities in Europe. Thus with the 32,000 Canadian volunteers already landed in England, and 8,000 under arms guarding strategic points in the Dominion, Canada would soon raise 100,000 men as part of her contribution to Imperial defense.
But this was only a beginning. Later in the war Canada stood ready to furnish half a million men to the cause of the Empire, if required. Nearly 360,000 of that number had been enlisted when the war was two years old. The greatest problems were encountered in the first year, or rather in the first six months of the war, after which time efforts were systematized, the military machine worked smoothly, and the Dominion's splendid response to the call to arms was maintained throughout. General prosperity in the face of adverse conditions happily attended this record of patriotic achievement, and the predominant spirit in Canada was one of buoyant optimism as to the inevitable outcome of the great conflict.
THE "EMDEN" DRIVEN ASHORE A WRECK
During the first three months of the war the German cruiser Emden, operating principally in the Indian ocean, played havoc with British merchantmen, sinking over twenty vessels engaged in far Eastern commerce, besides a Russian cruiser and a French torpedo-boat. But she met her match in the second week of November, when she was engaged off the Cocos or Keeling group of islands, southwest of Java, by the fast Australian cruiser Sydney and driven ashore a burning wreck after an hour's fight, with a loss of 280 men.
NAVAL BATTLE OFF CHILEAN COAST
Early in November a fleet of five German cruisers, under Admiral von Spee, encountered a British squadron composed of the cruisers Good Hope, Monmouth and Glasgow, in command of Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, off the coast of Chile, in the Southern Pacific. Despite a raging gale, a long-range battle ensued, resulting in the defeat of the British and the loss of the flagship Good Hope, with the admiral and all her crew, and of the cruiser Monmouth. The Glasgow escaped in a damaged condition. The loss of life was about 1,000, officers and men.
Up to November 15, the struggle in the coast region of Belgium continued with terrific intensity and appalling loss of life on both sides. The Germans occupied Dixmude November 11, only to lose it on November 13, after a fierce attack by reinforced British troops.
DAILY COST OF WAR
The daily cost of the present war to the nations engaged in the struggle is estimated at not less than $54,000,000 a day—a sum which fairly staggers the imagination. This enormous cost of the armies in the field gives a decided advantage to the nation best supplied with the "sinews of war" and may contribute to a shortening of hostilities. War is indeed a terrible drain upon the resources of a nation and only a few there are that can stand many months of war expenditures like those of August-October, 1914, amounting in the grand aggregate to nearly five billions of dollars ($5,000,000,000).
TURKEY ENTERS THE WAR
On October 29 an act which was regarded in Russia as equivalent to a declaration of war by Turkey was committed at Theodosia, the Crimean port, when that town was bombarded without notice by the cruiser Breslau, flying the Turkish flag, but commanded by a German officer and manned by a German crew. The Breslau was a former German ship, and was said to have been purchased by the Turkish government, with the German battleship Goeben, when they sought refuge in the Dardanelles at the beginning of the war, from the French and British fleets in the Mediterranean.
FOURTH MONTH OF THE WAR
The month of November, the fourth month of the war, was marked by the heaviest losses to all the nations concerned, but made little change in the general situation.
Along the Aisne the battle begun early in September continued intermittently. Both sides literally dug themselves in and along the battle line in many places, the hostile trenches were separated by only a few yards. At the end of the month the burrowing had been succeeded by tunneling, and both sides prepared for a winter of spasmodic action. It was a military deadlock, but a deadlock full of danger for the side that first developed a weak point in its far-flung front.
With the utmost fairness and impartiality it can be said that at the beginning of December both the allied armies and the German forces facing them from the Belgian coast east and south to the borders of Alsace-Lorraine were exhausted by the strenuous efforts of the campaign. By December 5, the 130th day of the war, after a seven-weeks' struggle by the Germans for the possession of the French and Belgian coast, there was a general cessation of offensive operations by both sides and the indications were that this condition was due to pure physical weariness of leaders and men. The world had never before witnessed such strenuous military operations as those of the preceding three months and the temporary exhaustion of the armies therefore was not surprising.
In the last days of November, the city of Belgrade fell into the hands of the Austrians after a siege that had lasted, with continual bombardments, since the war began. The city was finally taken by storm at the point of the bayonet in a furious charge which fairly overwhelmed the gallant defense of the Servians.
In this month it began to be generally realized that the war was likely to be of prolonged duration. Strenuous preparations for the winter campaign were made on both sides and the recruiting for the new British army surpassed all previous records, the serious menace of the war being at last recognized.
The month of November was also marked by enormous contributions of cash and food stuffs by the people of the United States for the relief of the impoverished and suffering Belgians. The people of Chicago alone contributed over $500,000 and this was but a sample of the manner in which Americans rose to the opportunity to alleviate the distress in Belgium. "The United States has saved us from starvation," said a Belgian official on December 1.
The casualties of all the armies in the field during the month of November exceeded those of any previous period of the war. Basing an estimate of the total casualties upon the same percentage as that employed in the table given on another page, it is therefore safe to say that up to December 5 the total losses of the combatant nations in killed, wounded and missing aggregated not less than 3,500,000 men.
DECEMBER IN THE TRENCHES
The month of December, 1914, the fifth month of the war, registered but little change in the relative positions of the combatant nations. In the west the lines held firm from the North Sea to Switzerland. Daily duels of artillery and daily assaults here and there along the battle fronts proved unavailing, so far as any change in general conditions was concerned. Frequently the assaults were of a desperate character, especially in Flanders, where in the middle of the month the Allies assumed the offensive all along the line and sturdily strove to push back the German front in Belgium. But the utmost valor and persistence in attack were invariably met by resolute resistance. Both sides were strongly entrenched and the gain of a few yards today was usually followed by the loss of a few yards tomorrow.
Never before in the history of warfare had the science of entrenchment been developed to such an extent. The German, French, British and. Belgian armies literally burrowed in the earth along a battle front of 150 miles. In many places the hostile trenches were separated by only a few yards, and mining was frequently resorted to. Tunneling toward each other, both the contending forces occasionally succeeded in blowing up the enemy's trench, and whole companies of unsuspecting troops were sometimes annihilated in this way. In the trenches themselves scenes unparalleled in warfare were witnessed. With the arrival of winter the troops on either side proceeded to secure what comfort they could by all manner of clever and unique devices. Winter clothing was provided as far as possible, but on both sides there was inevitable suffering for lack of suitable supplies for the winter campaign, and individual initiative had frequently to supply the deficiencies of official forethought.
Many unique features of trench life were developed during the first month of winter warfare. Two-story trenches became common on both sides of the firing line. Bombproof underground quarters for staff and commanding officers were constructed, and these were fitted up so as to provide all the comforts of the winter cantonments of old-time warfare. The ever-necessary telephone was installed at frequent points in trenches that stretched for scores of miles in practically unbroken lines. Board roofs were built and provision made for heating the dugouts in which thousands of men passed many days and nights before their reliefs arrived. On the German side miles of trenches were provided with stockade walls, leaving ample room inside for the rapid movement of troops. The British built trenches with lateral individual dugouts at right angles to the main trench, protecting the men against flank fire—and these aroused the admiration even of their enemies. In the French trenches the ingenuity of a French engineer provided a system of hot shower baths on the firing line, and from all points along the deadlocked battle front came stories of the remarkable manner in which the troops of all the armies speedily accommodated themselves to unprecedented conditions and maintained a spirit of cheerfulness truly marvelous under the circumstances, especially as there was no cessation of the constant endeavor to gain ground from the enemy and no end to the daily slaughter.
IN THE GERMAN TRENCHES
A correspondent with the German army who visited the firing line in the Argonne forest late in November, by special permission of the German crown prince, described the conditions in the trenches as follows: "Here in the now famous Argonne forest—the scene of some of the war's most desperate fighting—the Germans are trenching and mining their way forward, literally yard by yard. This afternoon I reached the foremost trench, south of Grandpré. About 160 feet ahead of me is the French trench. Picture to yourself a canebrake-like woods of fishpoles ranging in size from half an inch to saplings of two and three inches thick and so dense that you can hardly see forty yards even now when the leaves have fallen. Among these is a scattering of big trees, the trunks of which are veritable mines of bullets.
"Irregular lines of deep yellow clay trenches zigzag for miles. Other trenches run back from these to what looks like a huge Kansas 'prairie-dog town'—human burrows, where thousands of soldiers are literally living underground. From the lines of trenches running parallel to one another comes a constant, spitting, sputtering, popping of rifles, making the woods resound like a Chinese New Year in San Francisco or an old-time Fourth of July. Field guns and hand grenades furnish the 'cannon-cracker' effect. Through the woods the high-noted 'zing zing' of bullets sounds like a swarm of angry bees, while high overhead shrapnel and shell go shrieking on their way. Here and there you may see spades full of earth being thrown up as if by invisible hands, marking the onward work of the German gopher-like pioneers in their subterranean warfare. That is the Argonne forest.
"As the trench I am in was still in the hands of the French three days ago and as the crown prince is advancing steadily, the trenches are temporary and contain little in the way of comforts. In deep niches cut in the side the soldiers rest, play cards or even sleep on damp ledges between fights.
"The trenches also serve as a cemetery. When the enemy's fire is so hot that it is impossible to stick your head out or to take the dead out to bury them, the grave is made in a niche or a ledge cut into the side of the trench."
GERMAN ADVANCE HALTED
The western operations in December made it clear that the German advance to the Channel ports of France had been definitely halted. In the terrible battle of Ypres in Flanders, following the prolonged engagements along the Yser river, the Allies succeeded in repulsing the desperate German onslaught, and the German offensive was brought to a full stop. Towns and villages in Flanders, in Artois and in Champagne, that had been captured in the early German rush, were retaken one by one by the Belgians, French and British, slowly but surely, until the Germans were forced to act upon the defensive along a line of entrenchments prepared to enable them to keep open their communications through Belgium with their great base at Aix-la-Chapelle.
An incident of the desperate fighting at Ypres, in which British and French troops practically annihilated six German regiments, including the crack Second regiment of Prussian Guards, has been graphically described by an eye-witness as follows:
"A long valley stretches out before us and the little rise on which we stand—about fifty feet above the plain—commands it. The British guns are shooting almost horizontally at the German infantry trudging through the mud 2,000 yards away.
"I count easily five regiments together, but further to the right a sixth one evidently wards off a flank attack on the part of the French colonial troops. The lone regiment is the Second Prussian regiment of the guard, the emperor's own, the elite of the Kaiser's army, 2,500 of the brawniest, most disciplined men in the world. It is now 1 o'clock. In one hour only 300 of these men will leave the field.
"A gust of wind brings to our ears the sound of music. The guards' band is encouraging the men. At the foot of the small hill on which we stand are twenty lines of trenches filled with Scotch and English infantry. The men are silently awaiting the attack. Not a rifle is being fired. The trenches are the Germans' goal; these and the British batteries once taken, the road into Ypres is clear.
"In the valley the Germans halt. The range is only 1,500 yards now and every British shot is telling. The effects are appalling. The gray masses move onward once more, seem to hesitate, but sharp bugle blasts launch them forward again and on the run they come for the trenches.
"At 1,000 yards our batteries again stop them. Whole rows are mowed down, vast spaces appearing between the ranks. The companies intermingle, then the regiments themselves seem to amalgamate and melt into one another. Officers are seen galloping along the sides, evidently trying to bring order out of chaos.
"The artillerymen work silently, the perspiration streaming down their cheeks, and continue sending on their messengers of death.
"The Second regiment of the Guard alone, off to the right, seems untouched, and on it comes. Suddenly the sound of a bagpipe is heard. The Scots are awake. From the trenches an avalanche rushes forward toward the disordered Germans.
"At the double-quick Scots and English, a few feet apart, yelling like demons, pounce on the attackers. Rifles are silent. It is cold steel alone. Our battery captains cry 'Stop firing.' There is a risk of shelling our own men now. We become spectators.
"On the right the Guard has suddenly turned toward the hill. A bugle blast and the mass of men half turns and seems to be thrown on the back of the British, outflanked. The situation is desperate. Our artillery is useless.
"Listen! Over the valley, rising louder and still louder, comes a song which the Germans have heard before. A crash of brass, a hoarse roar fills the air, echoing across the valley, drowning the shouts and curses of the human wave fighting below.
"The 'Marseillaise'—the English and Scots have heard it. 'Hold tight, the French are coming,' we scream. They cannot hear us, but we must shout—the strain is too intense.
"Past our batteries a company of Spahis rushes like a cyclone. Two more follow, then the Zouaves. Rifles close to their hips, bayonets low, throwing out over the valley its glorious anthem, the human flood crashes against the Guard.
"The lines waver in an indescribable jumble of gray, yellow, blue, and red uniforms, then seem to bounce back from the very force of the shock. Men appear, raised from their feet, and raised high in the air.
"Caught in a vise between the British and the French, the Guard alone remains. Ten times the shattered remnants of the Kaiser's proud regiment charged, and ten times was thrown back, first against the French, then against the British. Crying, 'Comrades, comrades!' hundreds began throwing their guns aside.
"At 2 o'clock it was over. The Allies had lost 1,200 men. Only prisoners remained of the Second Prussian regiment of the Guard.
PROGRESS OF THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN
The campaign in the eastern theater of war attracted the attention of the whole world in December, when the German operations begun in November under Field Marshal Von Hindenburg, the victor of Tannenberg earlier in the war, were continued with varying successes. Early in the month the Germans captured Lodz, the second city and chief manufacturing center of Russian Poland, with a population of about 500,000, after a bombardment of a week's duration, the city being set on fire in many places. The Russians made a desperate resistance, and the fighting around Lodz constituted the most bitter struggle of the entire war on this front. A general Russian retirement in the direction of Warsaw followed, but the Germans failed in their subsequent efforts to envelop the flanks of the Russian army to the north and south. Russian reinforcements from Warsaw coming up promptly, the Germans were in their turn compelled to retire. Two German army corps were then practically cut off by the Russians, but made a successful retreat, fighting their way back to safety with the bayonet in one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. Thus the net result of the German campaign in Poland in December left the general situation there practically unchanged and the Russian front unbroken, while in East Prussia, too, the Russian invasion continued despite German efforts to roll it back across the frontier.
The losses on both sides in the eastern campaign in December were appalling, the fighting being of the fiercest possible nature. A typical struggle occurred a few miles west of Lodz in the little churchyard of Beschici, where the Russians, in one of the final phases of the struggle for the Polish city, showed that in spite of their defeats and discouragements they knew how to fight and die. This churchyard lies on a small eminence which formed a salient into the German lines. The Germans were able to make an attack from three sides with infantry and artillery. All the Russian trenches were enfiladed by shrapnel from one direction or another, but the Russians clung to their positions obstinately. When the Germans finally captured the trenches 878 Russian corpses were found in a space about eighty yards square.
It was resistance of this nature which the Germans had to overcome in order to capture Lodz. Later in December it became clear that Russia was getting her millions into the field and that the strategy of the commander-in-chief, the Grand Duke Nicholas, would soon be aided by the weight of overwhelming numbers.
BELGIUM THANKS AMERICA
During November and December Madame Vandervelde, wife of a member of the Belgian cabinet, toured the United States soliciting aid for her suffering fellow-countrymen. The response everywhere was extremely generous and in appreciation of the aid given the war victims of her country Madame Vandervelde penned the following poem, entitled "Belgium Thanks America:"
But still we tell the story which once we loved to tell."Good will! Good will!" we read it, and "Peace!"—we hear the name,And crouch among the ruins, and watch the cruel flame,And hear the children crying, and turn our eyes away—For them there's neither bread nor home this happy Christmas day.But look! there comes a message from far across the deep,From hearts that still can pity and eyes that still can weep—O little lips a-hunger! O faces pale and wan!There's somewhere—somewhere—peace on earth, somewhere good will to man,Across the waste of waters, a thousand leagues away,There's some one still remembers that here it's Christmas day.O God of Peace, remember, and in thy mercy keepThe hearts that still can pity, the eyes that still can weep,Amid the shame and torment, the ruins and the graves,To theirs, the land of freedom, from ours, the land of slaves,What answer can we send them? We can but kneel and pray:God grant—God grant to them, at least, a happy Christmas day.
GRIM REALITIES OF THE WAR
A vivid picture of the horrible realities of the war, as seen in a field hospital near the firing line, was given in "The New Republic" of November 28 by Mr. Henry W. Nevinson, who described his experiences at Dixmude in Belgium as follows:
"When I entered Dixmude one night in the middle of October the first bombardment was over, but from both sides the heavy shells flew across the town. From the end of the main street came an incessant noise of rifles and machine guns. Unaimed bullets wailed through the air, and pattered as they struck the walls. Flaming houses shed a light upon the ruined streets, but only one house looked inhabited, and all the others which were not burning stood silent and empty, expecting destruction.
"That one house was used as an outlying hospital or dressing-place nearest the firing line, and the wounded had to be led or carried only two or three hundred yards to reach it. They sat on the dining-room chairs or lay helpless on the floor. A few surgeons were at work upon them, cutting off loose fingers and throwing them into basins, plugging black holes that welled up instantly through the plug, straining bandages, which in a minute ceased to be white, round legs and heads. The smell of fresh, warm blood was thick on the air. One man lay deep in his blood. You could not have supposed that anyone had so much in him. Another's head had lost on one side all human semblance, and was a hideous pulp of eye and ear and jaw. Another, with chest torn open, lay gasping for the few minutes left of life. And as I waited for the ambulance more were brought in, and always more.
"In a complacent and comfortable account of hospital work I lately read that 'deaths from wounds are happily rare; one surgeon put the number as low as 2 per cent.' Happy hospital, far away in Paris or some Isle of the Blest! The further from the front the fewer the deaths, because so many have died already.
"In the nearest hospitals to the front, half the wounded, and on some days more than half, die where they are put. Often they die in the ambulance, and one's care in drawing them out is wasted, for they will never feel again. I found one always took the same care, though the greenish-yellow of the exposed hands or feet showed the truth. Laid on the floor of the main hospital itself, some screamed or moaned, some whimpered like sick children, especially in their sleep, some lay quiet, with glazed eyes out of which sight was passing. Mere fragments of mankind were there extended, limbs pounded into mash, heads split open, intestines hanging out from gashes. Did those bones—did that exquisite network of living tissue and contrivances for life—cost no more in the breeding than to be hewed and smashed and pulped like this? Shrapnel—shrapnel—it was nearly always the same. For this is, above all, an artillery war, and both sides are justly proud of their efficiency in guns."
GOVERNMENT RETURNS TO PARIS
Confidence of safety having been restored in the French capital, the Paris bourse reopened on December 7, after having been closed since September 3. President Poincaré transferred his official residence back to Paris from Bordeaux on December 9 and a meeting of the French cabinet was held in Paris on December 11, for the first time since the capital was threatened by the German advance at the end of August.
BRITISH NAVAL VICTORY
In the second week of December the British navy avenged the defeat of Rear Admiral Cradock's squadron off the Chilean coast in November, when a powerful special fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee, encountered the German cruiser fleet, under Admiral von Spee, off the Falkland Islands and practically destroyed it. Only one of the five German cruisers escaped. The flagship Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau, the Leipzig and the Nurnberg were sunk in the action, which lasted for five hours, and the German admiral with three of his sons and most of the officers and men of the German crews perished. The British losses were inconsiderable.
This sea fight in the South Atlantic was the most important engagement in which British men-of-war had participated since the era of Napoleon. The sailing of the British fleet in quest of Admiral von Spee's squadron had been kept secret and the news of the victory was therefore especially welcome to the people of England, who had been considerably worried by a succession of minor naval losses inflicted by German cruisers, submarines and mines. The action was gallantly fought on both sides. The advantage in weight of metal and range of guns lay on the side of the British, and the battle was decided at long range. Admiral von Spee, refusing to surrender, in spite of the odds against him, went down with his ship. The flagship of the victorious admiral, Sir Frederick Sturdee, was the modern battle cruiser Invincible. A number of the German sailors were rescued by the British after the engagement and sent as prisoners of war to England. The total German loss was over 2,000 officers and men.
Fine strategy was shown by the British admiralty in sending Admiral Sturdee to South American waters. He was ordered to sea from his desk as chief of the British naval board, after Von Spee's Chilean victory in November, and was placed in command of some of the fastest and most powerful cruisers of the British fleet. The entire affair, from the time the admiral left London until he succeeded in finding and sinking the German squadron in the South Atlantic, took about a month—a truly remarkable exploit.
RULERS AT THE FRONT
During December all the armies in the field were visited by the rulers of their respective countries. The Czar spent some time with his troops near the firing lines in Poland; King George of England visited the British forces in Belgium and Northern France and conferred the Victoria Cross ("For Valor") on a number of officers and men; and President Poincaré made several trips to the front, conferring decorations upon General Joffre, commander-in-chief, and other French officers, for distinguished service. The gallant and devoted soldier-king, Albert of Belgium, remained steadfastly at the front with his troops, sharing all their privations and dangers during the fierce fighting in Flanders. Kaiser Wilhelm was also at the front, both east and west, but was forced to return to Berlin early in the month by an attack of illness. On his recovery after two weeks he again visited the western field headquarters in Belgium, but in the first week of January, 1915, he was again compelled by his ailment to make a hurried return to Berlin for medical treatment and rest. British and German naval losses in the world war to January 1, 1915, are shown in the following, compiled from admiralty reports, and, where these are missing, from other authoritative sources. The figures are approximately correct.
BRITISH LOSSESDate Name and Type How Sunk Tonnage Lives LostAug. 7—Amphion, protected cruiser Mined 3,440 136Sept. 4—Speedy, torpedo gunboat Mined 810 ...Sept. 5—Pathfinder, protected cruiser Mined 2,940 250Sept. 7—Warrior, protected cruiser Stranded 13,500 ...Sept. 9—Oceanic, auxiliary cruiser Wrecked 17,000 ...Sept. 18—Fishguard II, training ship Foundered ...... 21Sept. 19—AE-1, submarine Lost 800 25Sept. 20—Pegasus, protected cruiser Shelled 2,200 25Sept. 22—Aboukir, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 510Sept. 22—Cressy, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 561Sept. 22—Hogue, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 362Oct. 16—Hawke, protected cruiser Torpedoed 7,350 350Oct. 18—E-3, submarine Shelled 800 25Oct. 27—Audacious, dreadnought Torpedoed 25,000 2Oct. 31—Hermes, protected cruiser Torpedoed 5,600 ...Nov. 1—Monmouth, armored cruiser Shelled 3,800 540Nov. 1—Good Hope, armored cruiser Shelled 14,100 875Nov. 5—D-5, submarine Mined 550 21Nov. 11—Niger, torpedo gunboat Torpedoed 819 ...Nov. 20—Bulwark, battleship Explosion 15,000 800Jan. 1—Formidable, battleship Torpedoed 17,000 579Number of vessels lost, 21. ———————Totals 172,700 5,082GERMAN LOSSESDate Name and Type How Sunk Tonnage Lives LostAug. 5—Panther, gunboat Shelled 900 75Aug. 6—Koenigin Luise, mine layer Torpedoed 1,800 70Aug. 7—Augsburg, protected cruiser Shelled 4,280 158Aug. 9—U-15, submarine Shelled 400 12Aug. 27—Kaiser Wm.der Grosse, aux. cruiser Shelled 14,849 30Aug. 27—Magdeburg, protected cruiser Shelled 4,478 200Aug. 28—Ariadne, protected cruiser Shelled 2,620 200Aug. 28—V-186, V-187, destroyers Shelled 1,290 100Sept. 14—Cap Trafalgar,auxiliary cruiser Shelled 26,000 14Sept. 15—Hela, small cruiser Torpedoed 2,000 10Oct. 17—S-115, 117, 118, 119, 4 destroyers 1,660 193Oct. 20—S-30, destroyer Ran Ashore 400 ...Oct. 25—Submarine Shelled 400 12Oct. 30—Submarine Shelled 400 12Nov. 4—Yorck, armored cruiser Mined 9,350 226Nov. 7—Jaguar, gunboat Shelled 330 50Nov. 7—Luchs, gunboat Shelled 880 50Nov. 7—Iltis, gunboat Shelled 880 50Nov. 7—Cormoran, gunboat Shelled 1,600 100Nov. 7—Tiger, gunboat Shelled 880 50Nov 7—Taku, destroyer Shelled 280 26Nov. 7—Ruchin, mine layer Shelled ... ...Nov. 9—Emden, protected cruiser Shelled 3,540 200Nov. . .—Wilhelm der Grosse, battleship Mined 10,790 400Nov. . .—Hertha, cruiser Mined 5,569 200Dec. 8—Scharnhorst, armored cruiser Shelled 11,420 764Dec. 8—Gneisenau, armored cruiser Shelled 11,420 700Dec. 8—Leipzig, cruiser Shelled 3,200 280Dec 8—Nurnberg, cruiser Shelled 3,200 256Dec. 10—Three submarines Shelled 1,200 36Number of vessels lost, 38. ————————Totals 134,026 5,005
CANADIANS AT THE FRONT
Late in December the first of the Canadian troops to leave their English training camp on Salisbury Plain were sent to the front in Northern France. The Princess Patricia regiment had the military honor of leading the Canadians to the firing line. It was made up largely of men who had seen previous service and promptly proceeded to give a good account of itself. A British guardsman returning wounded from the front on December 28 paid a characteristic tribute to the efficiency and daring of the Canadian troops, when he said: "They are all old soldiers. They knew as much about the game as we did and a blooming sight more than the enemy's infantry."
The Canadians first went into action at one of those ticklish spots where yards count. The trench of the British ended at a village which was vigorously shelled by the Germans, and was practically in ruins. Another trench on the right of a little town held by unmounted French cavalry made it impossible for the Germans to reach the village, but their "snipers" had ensconced themselves in some farm buildings to the northeast, making it extremely hazardous for supplies to reach the advanced British posts.
"About twenty of the Canadians," said the wounded guardsman, "managed to gain the ruins at the extreme end of the village during Christmas night and when daylight came they accounted for practically all the German 'snipers' and dashed back into safety before the German artillery fire was directed to the stronghold."
SERVIANS REOCCUPY BELGRADE
Just when it appeared likely that Servia might share the fate of Belgium, a turn in the fortunes of war changed the entire situation of affairs in the little Slav kingdom. Aided by a fresh advance of Russian troops across the Carpathians, which caused the hurried withdrawal of three Austrian army corps from Servian territory to defend the threatened cities of Hungary, the Serbs again took the offensive and, inspired by the presence in the field of old King Peter, a gallant soldier of France in 1870, they reoccupied Belgrade and drove the Austrians before them in a disorderly rout, so that by December Servia was free of the Austrian enemy. Budapest, capital of Hungary, became panic-stricken at the Russian advance and the Servian victory, and the year 1914 closed with every evidence that the people of Austria, at any rate, were tired of the war, discontented at the prospect, and desirous of peace.
GERMAN ATTACK ON BRITISH COAST
For the first time in history since the days of the American commander, Paul Jones, British coast towns were bombarded on December 16, when a squadron of German cruisers, slipping across the North Sea in a fog, from their Heligoland base, appeared off Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, on the eastern coast of England, and shelled each of them in turn. The loss of life in the three towns was about 100 men, women and children, and a considerable number of buildings were partially wrecked by the German shells. Comparatively speaking, of course the damage inflicted was trifling and from a military point of view the incident was unimportant, the German ships disappearing in the fog after a half-hour's bombardment But the moral effect upon the British public was tremendous. The event came as a distinct shock to their over-confidence and as a reminder that the German navy was still to be reckoned with. The warships of the Kaiser brought home to the people of the United Kingdom the meaning of the war, as no previous incident had done, and fear of further attacks took possession of them. This fear, however, soon turned to rage, and then to a fierce determination to prosecute the war to a bitter end. The attack stimulated recruiting for Lord Kitchener's new army, and this was its chief result, though Germany had proved that her ships could reach British shores and bombard their defenseless towns, in spite of all the vigilance of the British fleet.
BRITISH RAID GERMAN PORT
By way of answer to the German attack on Scarborough and Hartlepool, a daring raid was made Christmas Day by the British navy on the German naval base at Cuxhaven, at the mouth of the Elbe. The chief participants were seven British naval airmen. They were assisted in the attack by several light cruisers, destroyers and submarines. The airmen piloted seaplanes and succeeded in dropping a number of bombs in the vicinity of Cuxhaven, in an attempt to bring out into the open a portion of the German fleet lying there. The affair resulted in a contest between the most modern of war machines. No surface warships were sent out by the Germans, but the attack was repelled by means of Zeppelins, sea-planes and submarines. No great damage was done on either side and the British airmen all escaped without injury, though four of them lost their machines. One, Flight Commander Hewlett, fell with his plane into the North Sea at a considerable distance from Cuxhaven and was picked up by a Dutch trawler, which landed him in Holland several days afterward. The British vessels remained off Cuxhaven for three hours, engaged in the most novel combat in naval history.
A short time previous to the attack on Cuxhaven, the British submarine B-11 accomplished one of the most remarkable exploits of the war when it penetrated into the Dardanelles and torpedoed the Turkish battleship Messudieh. In doing so the submarine successfully passed and repassed five lines of submerged mines and returned to its base in safety after being under water for many hours at a stretch.
U.S. PROTEST ON MARINE CONDITIONS
On December 31, by mutual agreement between the State Department at Washington and the British Foreign Office, the text of a note sent by the United States to England, requesting an early improvement in the treatment of American shipping by the British fleet, was made public. The note of protest had been presented on December 29. It dealt with the manner in which American ships suspected of carrying contraband of war had been held up on the high seas and sent into British ports for examination. Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign secretary, and Walter Hines Page, United States ambassador, conferred on the subject in London, and it was announced on January 1, 1915, that an answer to the American note would be drawn up as soon as possible and that it would be in the same friendly spirit in which the American note was written.
ON THE WESTERN BATTLE FRONT
The battle lines in the western theater of war held firm and fast during the first two months of 1915. Along the entire front, from Flanders to the Swiss frontier, there were few changes in the relative positions of the German forces and the Allies up to March 1, at which time both sides were occupied with preparations for the spring campaign. British reinforcements, forming part of Lord Kitchener's new army, were being transported to the front, while the far-flung lines of trenches were filled with battle-weary veterans of the winter campaign. In many places the entrenchments of the opposing forces were only a few yards apart and trenches were frequently destroyed by mines, resulting in losses to both sides, but without materially changing the general aspect of the conflict.