THE CROWNING HUMILIATION
The Crowning Humiliation, or Before and After Seeing Foch, might be the appropriate title for the latest story now added to the pages of world history.
Four years and four months ago the German leadership, fully confident of its strength, assured of its weapons, arrogant beyond anything in recorded history, challenged the organized and unorganized forces of the civilized world to mortal combat. They thrust the Imperial German sword through all the covenants and commands of civilization and of justice. Bursting out upon an unprepared and unsuspecting world, they were, despite their incredible strength, checked by France on the battlefield of the Marne, encircled by the British fleets, and like Napoleon after Leipzig, condemned to ultimate defeat. At the hour when the white flag was brought to the French lines, British armies were approaching the field of Waterloo, American armies stood victorious in Sedan, and French armies were sweeping forward from the Oise to the Meuse. The crowning humiliation came with the admission of defeat. Germany sought armistice at the hands of a Marshal of France!
FOCH—"THE GRAY MAN OF CHRIST"
In the closing days of the great war a striking contrast was drawn by the Los Angeles Times between William Hohenzollern and Marshal Foch, from the religious standpoint. The former German monarch coupled Gott with himself as an equal, while Ferdinand Foch was called, with apparent reason, "the gray man of Christ."
"This has been Christ's war," said the Times. "Christ on one side, and all that stood opposed to Christ on the other side. And the generalissimo, in supreme command of all the armies that fought on the side of Christ, is Christ's man. * * * It seems to be beyond all shadow of doubt that when the hour came in which all that Christ stood for was to either stand or fall, Christ raised up a man to lead the hosts that battled for him." And the Times continues:
"If you will look for Foch in some quiet church, it is there that he will be found, humbly giving God the glory and absolutely declining to attribute it to himself. Can that kind of a man win a war? Can a man who is a practical soldier be also a practical Christian? And is Foch that kind of a man? Let us see.
"A California boy, serving as a soldier in the American Expeditionary Forces in France, wrote a letter to his parents in San Bernardino recently, in which he gives, as well as anyone else could give, the answer to the question we ask. This American boy, Evans by name, tells of meeting Marshal Foch at close range in France.
"Evans had gone into an old church to have a look at it, and as he stood there with bared head satisfying his respectful curiosity, a gray man with the eagles of a general on the collar of his shabby uniform entered the church. Only one orderly accompanied the quiet, gray man. No glittering staff of officers, no entourage of gold-laced aides were with him; nobody but just the orderly.
"Evans paid small attention at first to the gray man, but was curious to see him kneel in the church, praying. The minutes passed until full three-quarters of an hour had gone by before the gray man arose from his knees.
"Then Evans followed him down the street and was surprised to see soldiers salute this man in great excitement, and women and children stopping in their tracks with awe-struck faces as he passed.
"It was Foch! And now Evans, of San Bernardino, counts the experience as the greatest in his life. During that three-quarters of an hour that the generalissimo of all the Allied armies was on his knees in humble supplication in that quiet church, 10,000 guns were roaring at his word on a hundred hills that rocked with death.
"Moreover, it is not a new thing with him. He has done it his whole life long."
HOME FOLLOWS THE FLAG
Nearly 28,000,000 Red Cross Relief Workers Distributing Aid in Ten Countries—Two War Fund Drives in 1918 Raise $291,000,000—Other Organizations Active—3,000 Buildings Necessary—Caring for the Boys—Boy Scouts Play Their Part Well.
From the hour of enlistment to the hour of return, the United States soldiers and sailors have had with them, throughout the war, the advantage of intelligent, sympathetic help from various civilian organizations, co-ordinating with the military.
First of all is the Red Cross, but that organization really is a non-combatant arm of the national service; and its work, generously financed by public subscription, is the greatest of its kind ever done in field or hospital, in any war.
Red Cross history would fill a big volume, no matter how meagrely told. There are 3,854 chapters of the organization. At the annual meeting of their war council, October 23, 1918, the chairman, Henry P. Davison, submitted a report that is literally astonishing, because the facts related had developed without, publicity and were quite unknown to the people of the country at large. Here are a few of them, taken from Mr. Davison's official statement:
NEARLY 28,000,000 WORKERS
The Red Cross in America has a membership of 20,648,103, and in addition, 8,000,000 members in the Junior Red Cross—a total enrollment of more than one-fourth the population of the United States.
American Red Cross workers produced up to July 1st, 1918, a total of 221,282,838 articles of an estimated value of $44,000,000. About 8,000,000 women are engaged in canteen work and the production of relief supplies.
The American Red Cross is distributing aid in ten countries—the United States, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Palestine, Greece, Russia and Siberia. Besides it has sent representatives to Serbia, Denmark and Madeira.
Two war fund "drives" in 1918 brought money contributions to the amount of $291,000,000. Membership dues of $24,500,000 brought the total up to $315,500,000 for the fiscal year. All this money was expended for purposes of pure mercy.
It has been because of the spirit which has pervaded all American Red Cross effort in this war that the aged governor of one of the stricken and battered provinces of France stated not long since that, though France had long known of American's greatness, strength and enterprise, it remained for the American Red Cross in this war to reveal America's heart.
The home service of the Red Cross, with its now more than 40, workers, is extending its ministrations of sympathy and counsel each month to upward of 100,000 families left behind by soldiers at the front.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVE
Next to the Red Cross in importance comes the Young Men's Christian Association, affectionately known to the army as "the Y." Then the Young Women's Christian Association; the National Catholic War Council; the Salvation Army; the Knights of Columbus; The Jewish Welfare Board: the War Camp Community Service; and The American Library Association.
What might be called the field army of these seven great agencies comprises more than 15,000 uniformed workers on both sides of the Atlantic and in Siberia; and General Pershing, late in October of 1918, asked that additional workers be sent over at the rate of at least a thousand a month.
They represent every type of activity—secretaries, athletic directors, librarians, preachers, lecturers, entertainers, motion picture operators, truck drivers, hotel managers and caterers. Many of them pay their own expenses. Those who cannot do that are paid their actual living expenses if they are single; and if they have families, are allowed approximately the pay of a second lieutenant.
3,000 BUILDINGS NECESSARY
More than 3,000 separate buildings have been erected (or rented) to make possible this huge work. These are of various sorts, from the great resorts at Aix les Bains, where our soldiers can spend their furloughs, to the hostess houses at the cantonments on this side. In addition, there are scores of warehouses and garages, and hundreds of "huts" which consist of nothing more than ruined cellars and dugouts in war-demolished towns or old-line trenches.
These figures do not include the buildings occupied by the organizations in times of peace, though all such buildings and quarters are at the disposal of soldiers and sailors. All are supported by their regular funds, supplemented by contributions entirely apart from those funds.
ALL PULL TOGETHER
The spirit of these seven organizations is uplifting in the broadest sense of the word. They depend upon people of ideals for support. Their purpose is to surround each boy, so far as possible, with the influences that were best in his life at home. Differences of creed or dogma are unknown. The W.M.C.A. and The Jewish Welfare Board work side by side with no thought of divergence in faith. They are as one, and their working creed is service, in the spirit of brotherhood to all men.
These are 842 libraries, with 1,547 branches, containing more than 3,600,000 books and 5,000,000 copies of periodicals. In the navy-branches are maintained 250 additional libraries aboard our war and mercantile ships.
Almost every family in the United States having a son in the service has received letters written on the stationery of one or other of the organizations, for together they supply abundant writing materials. They supply 125,000,000 sheets of writing paper a month, and keep on hand all the time about $500,000 worth of postage stamps.
A soldier boy finds himself located in a little French village that before the war sheltered 500 people and now must accommodate as many soldiers besides. His sleeping place is a barn, which he must share with forty other boys. There is no store in the town, no theatre, no library, no place to write a letter or be warm and dry—until the hut comes.
ALL MODERN IDEAS
With it come books and writing paper and baseballs and bats and boxing gloves and chocolate and cigarettes and motion pictures and lectures and theatrical entertainments. Home comes with the hut, bringing all the love and care and cheer of the folks who have stayed behind.
The boy is called into the front line trenches. He is there through the long cold night, his feet wet, his whole body chilled to the bone. As the first rays of the sun announce the new day, a shout of welcome runs through the trench. He looks to see a secretary—Y, or K. of C., or Jewish Welfare Board or Salvation Army—it matters not. Down the trench comes this secretary with chocolates and cigarettes, doughnuts and hot coffee or cocoa—a reminder that even here, in front, the love and care of the folks back home still follow him.
CARING FOR THE BOYS
Is he wounded? Aiding the stretcher bearers, the secretaries work side by side, taking the wounded back to the dressing stations.
Is he taken prisoner? Even in the prison camp the long arm of these friendly organizations reaches out to aid him. In Switzerland both the Y and the K. of C. have established headquarters, and through such neutral agencies as the Danish Red Cross they carry on their program of help even in the enemy prison camps.
Does he wish to send money back to the folks at home? The Y.M.C.A. and the K. of C., the Jewish Welfare Board and the Salvation Army transmit hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from the front to mothers and sisters and wives over here.
If the Boy is allowed to visit the armies of our Allies he will find that they too have asked for the hut, and received it. More than a thousand Y huts under the name of "Foyers du Soldat" are helping to maintain morale in the French army—erected at the special request of the French Ministry of War. The King of Italy made a personal request for the extension of the "Y" work to his armies. The men who were charged with the task of winning this war believed that America could do nothing better to hasten victory than to extend the influence of these great creators and conservers of morale to the brave soldiers of our Allies.
The cheer, the comfort, the recuperative influence of these united services to our soldiers cannot be overestimated. They are incalculably valuable—and they are purely and originally American.
WOUNDED YANKS ARE CHEERFUL
A Paris correspondent just from the front says—The spirit of American soldiers passing through casualty stations is admirable. One "doughboy" from Kansas, hobbling up to an American Red Cross canteen on one leg and crutches, shouted, "Here I come. I'm only hitting on three cylinders, but still able to get about."
Another boasted of his luck because he had only three shrapnel wounds, one in his hand, one in his shoulder and one in the back.
An American Red Cross canteen at a receiving station often offers men their first chance to talk over their experiences. They stand round with a cup of chocolate in one hand, a doughnut in the other, and fight their fights over again until officers drive them to the dressing rooms.
BOY SCOUTS PLAY THEIR PART WELL
"Boys will be men" is a new version of an old saying. It is justified by the record of the Boy Scouts of America, for a better formation of upright, manly character never was achieved by any other means. That Scout training makes good men and fine soldiers has been amply proven on a broad scale.
November 1, 1918, The Boy Scouts of America had a registered membership of over 350,000, and applications for membership were coming in at the rate of a thousand a day. April 9, 1917, three days after this country entered the war, the National Council of the organization formally resolved "To co-operate with the Red Cross through its local chapters in meeting their responsibilities occasioned by the state of war." The members have nobly followed out that resolution.
BOYS HELP MOST WONDERFUL
They have sold liberty bonds in the amount of $206,179,150, to 1,349, individual subscribers. As "dispatch bearers of the government" they have distributed over 15,000,000 war pamphlets. They have been sedulous and invaluable in checking enemy propaganda. They have served on innumerable public occasions as police aids and as ushers at great meetings. They performed one feat that might to many have appeared impossible, in searching out for the war department enough black walnut trees to furnish 14,038,560 feet of board lumber that was urgently needed for gunstocks and plane propellors. They have been tireless in supplementing the service of other organizations. And they never make any display of their work—they just do it, and keep on doing it, without any talk. They are useful; and every man who was a boy scout is a better man for having been one.
THIRTY-THREE Y.M.C.A. WORKERS GIVE LIVES IN WAR
From the time the United States entered the war up to the signing of the armistice, thirty-three Y.M.C.A. workers, twenty-nine men and four women, have given up their lives in the service abroad.
British air forces kept pace with the German armies across the Rhine. In the last five months, in which occurred some of the heaviest air fighting in the war, Germany lost in aerial combats with the British alone 1,837 machines. It is estimated that something like 2,700 machines were accounted for by the British since June 1, and to this total may be added the heavy destruction wrought by French and American aviators.
GREATEST MAIL SERVICE IN THE WORLD
The mail service of the American armies in France and Belgium was one of the most remarkably original features of the war. Mail was handled by postal experts from home in such manner as sent millions of letters by the straightest course to every point in the United States, from the great cities down to the smallest hamlet.
"SAG" RELIEVED POISON GAS VICTIMS
American soldiers in the fighting lines were furnished with tubes of medicinal paste to cure mustard gas burns. It was simply smeared over the burned patches, or rubbed on the skin to prevent burning. It was called "sag," which is the reverse spelling of "gas."
GERMANS ABANDONED MUCH EQUIPMENT
While they were chasing the Germans after they had broken the Hindenburg line, American soldiers salvaged enormous quantities of equipment thrown away or abandoned by the boches in their haste to get out of the Americans' way.
TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE
On the memorable afternoon of Monday, November 11, 1918. President Wilson convened the Senate and the House of Representatives in the capitol at Washington, and there read out the terms of the armistice which Germany had accepted, and to the observance of which Germany was pledged with guaranties so strict that evasion was made impossible. The President is an unemotional man, but in that hour he must have felt deep satisfaction in the fact that the document in his hand had been made possible by the will and the action of the great nation whose chief magistrate he was, and is—the nation that with generous hand and prompt compliance had backed him at every step of the difficult road to triumph over the dark forces of evil that had plagued the whole earth and imperilled the very life of civilization.
His audience (the legislative arm of our government and the co-ordinate judiciary arm as represented by Justices of the Supreme Court; the members of the President's cabinet, the diplomatic corps; and high officers of the army and navy) was less repressed. As the strongest points were reached, all present joined in mighty applause.
THE NATION LISTENS AND APPLAUDS
The whole country was listening, for while the President's voice was being heard in that place, the wires were carrying the words to every city and hamlet in all the broad land.
The armistice had been signed by the German envoys in the very last hour of the seventy-two that Marshal Foch had granted them. Long before daylight, the news came by cable, the sirens and factory whistles were thrown wide open, and the whole population of the United States, men, women and children, roused out of bed, swarmed the streets and highways, and gave themselves over to such a jubilation as no country ever before had seen—nor any previous day in the story of the human race had called for. It is not to be forgotten; for by reason of the magnificent and final victory of right over might, another such day need never dawn.
PRESIDENT MAKES ARMISTICE PUBLIC
President Wilson in making public the armistice terms addressed the governing bodies of our country as follows:
"Gentlemen of the Congress: In these anxious times of rapid and stupendous change it will in some degree lighten my sense of responsibility to perform in person the duty of communicating to you some of the larger circumstances of the situation with which it is necessary to deal.
"The German authorities who have, at the invitation of the supreme war council, been in communication with Marshal Foch, have accepted and signed the terms of armistice which he was authorized and instructed to communicate to them.
TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE
One—Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the signature of the armistice.
Two—Immediate evacuation of invaded countries; Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within fifteen days from the signature of the armistice. German troops which have not left the above mentioned territories within the period fixed will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the allied and United States forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with a note annexed to the stated terms.
Three—Repatriation, beginning at once and to be completed within fifteen days, of all inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, including hostages and persons under trial or convicted.
MUST SURRENDER MILITARY SUPPLIES
Four—Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the following equipment: Five thousand guns (2,500 heavy, 2,500 field), 25,000 machine guns, 3,000 minenwerfer (mine throwers), 1,700 aeroplanes (fighters, bombers, firstly D-73 Js and night bombing machines). The above to be delivered in situ to the allies and the United States troops in accordance with the detailed conditions laid down in the annexed note.
Five—Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local troops of occupation under the control of the allied and United States armies of occupation. The occupation of these territories will be carried out by allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine—Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne—together with bridgeheads at these points in thirty kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions. A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine between the stream and a line drawn parallel to it, forty kilometers to the east from the frontier of Holland to the parallel of Gernsheim and as far as practicable a distance of thirty kilometers from the east of the stream from this parallel upon the Swiss frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhine lands shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of eleven days, in all nineteen days after the signature of the armistice. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated according to the note annexed.
Six—In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants; no person shall be prosecuted for participation in war measures prior to the signing of this armistice. No destruction of any kind to be committed. Military establishments of all kinds shall be delivered intact, as well as military stores of food, munitions, equipment not removed during the periods fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired.
Seven—All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 motor lorries in good working order, with all necessary spare parts and fittings, shall be delivered to the associated powers within the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxemburg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the same period, together with all pre-war personnel and material. Further material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for upkeep of permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entire in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany during the whole period of armistice. All barges taken from the allies shall be restored to them. A note appended regulates the details of these measures.
MUST REVEAL ALL MINES
Eight—The German command shall be responsible for revealing within forty-eight hours all mines or delay-acting fuses deposed on territory evacuated by the German troops, and shall assist in their discovery and destruction. The German command shall also reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or polluting of springs, wells, etc.), under penalty of reprisals.
Nine—The right of requisition shall be exercised by the allies and the United States armies in all occupied territory. The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhineland (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German government, subject to the regulation of accounts with those whom it may concern.
Ten—An immediate repatriation without reciprocity according to detailed conditions, which shall be fixed, of all allied and United States prisoners of war. The allied powers and the United States shall be able to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. This condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and Switzerland shall continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace.
Eleven—Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by German personnel, who will be left on the spot with the medical material required.
Twelve—All German troops at present in any territory which before the war belonged to Roumania or Turkey shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August 3, 1914. Territory which belonged to Austria-Hungary is added to that from which the Germans must withdraw immediately, and as to territory which belonged to Russia it is provided that the German troops now there shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as soon as the allies, taking into account the internal situation of those territories, shall decide that the time for this has come.
Thirteen—Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all German instructors, prisoners, and civilian, as well as military agents, now on the territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled.
Fourteen—German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended for Germany in Roumania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914).
Fifteen—Denunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties. Sixteen—The allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their eastern frontier, either through Danzig or by the Vistula, in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories and for the purpose of maintaining order.
Seventeen—Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa within a period to be fixed by the allies.
REPATRIATION AND REPARATION
Eighteen—Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a maximum period of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, of all civilians interned or deported who may be citizens of other allied or associated states than those mentioned in clause three, paragraph nineteen, with the reservation that any future claims and demands of the allies and the United States of America remain unaffected.
Nineteen—The following financial conditions are required:
Reparation for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the allies for the recovery or repatriation for war losses. Immediate restitution of the cash deposit in the National Bank of Belgium, and in general immediate return of all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money, together with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the invaded countries. Restitution of the Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that power. This gold to be delivered in trust to the allies until the signature of peace.
Twenty—Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marines of the allied and associated powers, all questions of neutrality being waived.
Twenty-one—All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the allied and associated powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity.
Twenty-two—Surrender to the allies and the United States of America of all German submarines now existing (including all submarine cruisers and mine-laying submarines), with their complete armament and equipment, in ports which will be specified by the allies and the United States of America. Those that cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of their material and personnel and shall remain under the supervision of the allies and the United States.
Twenty-three—The following German surface warships, which shall be designated by the allies and the United States of America, shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, or, for the want of them, in allied ports to be designated by the allies and the United States of America and placed under the surveillance of the allies and the United States of America, only caretakers being left on board—namely: Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers (including two mine layers), fifty destroyers of the most modern type. All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in German naval bases to be designated by the allies and the United States of America, and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of the allies and the United States of America. All vessels of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to be disarmed. Vessels designated for internment shall be ready to leave German ports within seven days upon direction by wireless. The military armament of all vessels of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore.
Twenty-four—The allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters and the positions of these are to be indicated.
Twenty-five—Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marines of the allied and associated powers. To secure this, the allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries, and defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated.
Twenty-six—The existing "blockade conditions set up by the allies and associated powers are to remain unchanged, and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The allies and the United States shall give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during the armistice to the extent recognized as necessary.
Twenty-seven—All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized in German bases to be specified by the allies and the United States of America.
Twenty-eight—in evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall abandon all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes, and all other harbor materials, all materials for inland navigation, all aircraft and all materials and stores, all arms, and armaments, and all stores and apparatus of all kinds.
EVACUATED ALL BLACK SEA PORTS
Twenty-nine—All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; all Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports are to be returned and German materials as specified in clause twenty-eight are to be abandoned.
Thirty—All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the allied and associated powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.
Thirty-one—No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.
Thirty-two—The German government will notify the neutral governments of the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the allied and associated countries, whether by the German government or by private German interests, and whether in return for specific concessions, such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately canceled.
Thirty-three—No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the armistice.
Thirty-four—The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with option to extend. During this period, on failure of execution of any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours' previous notice.
It is understood that the execution of articles three and eighteen shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed except in the case of bad faith in carrying them into execution. In order to assure the execution of this convention under the best conditions the principle of a permanent international armistice commission is admitted. This commission shall act under the authority of the allied military and naval commanders-in-chief.
Thirty-five—This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within seventy-two hours of notification.
PRESIDENT'S COMMENT ON ARMISTICE
"The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it.
"It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute, in a way of which we are all deeply proud, to the great result.
"We know, too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize.
"Armed imperialism, such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany, is at an end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. Who will now seek to revive it? The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany, which once could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world, is discredited and destroyed.
"And more than that—much more than that—has been accomplished. The great nations which associated themselves to destroy it had now definitely united in the common purpose to set up such a peace as will satisfy the longing of the whole world for disinterested justice, embodied in settlements which are based upon something much better and much more lasting than selfish competitive interests of powerful states.
"There is no longer conjecture as to the objects the victors have in mind. They have a mind in the matter, not only, but a heart also. Their avowed and concerted purpose is to satisfy and protect the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong.
"The humane temper and intention of the victorious governments has already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representatives in the supreme war council at Versailles have by unanimous resolution assured the people of the central empires that everything that is possible in the circumstances will be done to supply them with food and relieve the distressing want that is in so many places threatening their very lives; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts at relief in the same systematic manner that they were organized in the case of Belgium.
"For, with the fall of the ancient governments which rested like an incubus upon the people of the central empires, has come political change not merely, but revolution; and revolution which seems as yet to assume no final and ordered form.
"Excesses accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has furnished abundant recent proof of that. Disorder immediately defeats itself. If excesses should occur, if disorder should for a time raise its head, a sober second thought will follow and a day of constructive action, if we help and do not hinder.
"To conquer with arms is to make only a temporary conquest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent conquest. I am confident that the nations that have learned the discipline of freedom and that have settled with self-possession to its ordered practice are now about to make conquest of the world by the sheer power of example and of friendly helpfulness.
"The peoples who have but just come out from under the yoke of arbitrary government and who are now coming at last into their freedom will never find the treasures of liberty they are in search of if they look for them by the light of the torch. They will find that every pathway that is stained with the blood of their own brothers leads to the wilderness, not to the seat of their hope.
"They are now face to face with their initial tests. We must hold the light steady until they find themselves. And in the meantime, if it be possible, we must establish a peace that will justly define their place among the nations, remove all fear of their neighbors and of their former masters, and enable them to live in security and contentment when they have set their own affairs in order.
"If they do we shall put our aid at their disposal in every way that we can. If they do not we must await with patience and sympathy the awakening and recovery that will assuredly come at last."
GERMAN MALTREATMENT OF PRISONERS
Prisoners set free under terms of the armistice brought back tales of their almost unbelievably barbarous treatment in German prison camps. A correspondent, Philip Gibbs, describes some of them as living skeletons. Of one typical group he says "they were so thin and weak they could scarcely walk, and had dry skins, through which their cheekbones stood out, and the look of men who had been buried and come to life again. Many of them were covered with blotches. 'It was six months of starvation,' said one young man who was a mere wreck. They told me food was so scarce and they were tortured with hunger so vile that some of them had a sort of dropsy and swelled up horribly, and died. After they left their prison camp they were so weak and ill they could hardly hobble along; and some of them died on the way back, at the very threshhold of new life on this side of the line."
Map of World War Zone
Showing Final Battle Line from Holland to Switzerland. Shaded Portion Shows German Territory Evacuated.
1. Rhine line to be occupied by Allied troops as provided in Armistice, showing cities and brdgeheads.
2. Neutral Zone Line as provided by terms of Armistice.]
HONOR TO THE VICTORS
November 16, 1918, the American Distinguished Service Medal was conferred upon General Pershing at his headquarters in the field by General Tasker H. Bliss, representing President Wilson. The ceremony was witnessed by the members of the allied missions, and was most impressive, Admiral Benson, representing the United States Navy, and William G. Sharp, American Ambassador to France, were also present.
SERVICE MEDAL TO GENERAL PERSHING
General Bliss, in presenting the decoration, read this order issued by Newton T. Baker, Secretary of War:
"The President directs you to say to Gen. Pershing that he awards the medal to the commander of our armies in the field as a token of the gratitude of the American people for his distinguished services and in appreciation of the successes which oar armies have achieved under his leadership."
After reading the order General Bliss called to mind that when the first division went away many doubted if it would be followed by another for at least a year.
"But," he added, "you have created and organized and trained here on the soil of France an American army of between two and two and a half million men. You have created the agencies for its reception, its transportation and supply. To the delight of all of us you have consistently adhered to your ideal of an American army under American officers and American leadership.
"And I know that I speak for our president, when I say that, as to those who have died, the good God has given eternal rest, so may He give to us eternal peace."
At a previous date, and while hostilities were still in course, Marshal Foch had conferred upon General Pershing the grand cordon of the Legion of Honor. The names of these two great commanders, reflecting supreme honor upon their respective countries, have become imperishable in the records of civilization. Their careers present unusual analogy. They were bred to the art of war, and stand among the foremost in the roll of great soldiers who have fought for and established Peace, in many lands and many ages.
PERSHING'S SPLENDID RECORD
John Joseph Pershing was born September 30, 1860, in Linn county, Missouri, to John F. and Ann E. (Thompson) Pershing. He was given the degree of Bachelor of Arts by the Kirksville (Missouri) normal school in 1880; graduated at West Point in 1886; was made Bachelor of Laws by the University of Nebraska in 1893; married Francis H. Warren, daughter of Senator Warren of Wyoming, at Washington, January 28, 1905. (His wife and two daughters perished in the fire at the Presidio, San Francisco, August 15,1915.) He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th cavalry July 1, 1886; became a captain in the 10th cavalry October 20, 1892. Passed through the other grades up to that of Brigadier General in 1913, after the battle of Bagsag, P.I., in June of that year. Had seen service in several Indian campaigns, in Cuba and the Phillipines, and was United States military attaché with the army of General Kuroko in the war between Japan and Russia. Later was officer commanding at the Presidio, going thence to the Mexican border in 1913. Was in command of the troops that went into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916. When the United States entered the European war he was placed in command. Here was displayed in full not only his genius as a soldier, but as an organizer of the very highest skill. His home is in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
HONORS TO MARSHAL FOCH
At Senlis in France on Tuesday, November 12th, the day after the armistice was signed, General Pershing conferred upon Marshal Foch the American Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation was made in the name of President Wilson, at the villa where Marshal Foch had his headquarters, and was an impressive ceremony.
A guard of honor was drawn up and trumpeters blew a fanfare as Marshal Foch, with General Pershing on his right, took position a few paces in front of the guard. General Pershing said:
"The Congress of the United States has created this medal to be conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service to our country. President Wilson has directed me to present to you the first of these medals in the name of the United States Government and the American army, as an expression of their admiration and their confidence. It is a token of the gratitude of the American people for your great achievements. I am very happy to have been given the honor of presenting this medal to you."
In accepting the decoration, Marshal Foch said:
"I will wear this medal with pleasure and pride. In days of triumph, as well as in dark and critical hours, I will never forget the tragical day last March when General Pershing put at my disposal, without restriction, all the resources of the American army. The success won in the hard fighting by the American army is the consequence of the excellent conception, command and organization of the American General Staff, and the irreducible will to win of the American troops. The name 'Meuse' may be inscribed proudly upon the American flag."
MARSHAL FOCH'S RECORD
Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, was born at Tarbes in the French Pyrenees, August 4th of 1851—a year during which all Europe was agitated by the approach of war. His earlier education, largely religious, was had at the schools of Saint Etienne, Rodez and Metz. In his twentieth year he entered the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris for a course of instruction in military science, after which he was commissioned a lieutenant in the artillery branch of the French army, rising to a captaincy in 1878.
In 1892, with the rank of major, he became an instructor in the war school, specializing in military history and theory. He returned to army service as a lieutenant colonel in 1901, and in 1907 was made a general of brigade. Shortly thereafter, at the close of a term in command of artillery in the Fifth Army Corps, he was put at the head of the war school.
When war broke out in August, 1914, General Foch was in charge of the military post at Nancy, a point commanding the way between the Vosges mountains and the Duchy of Luxemburg. When the Germans came down toward the Marne and the situation in the field became very critical, his controlling doctrine of attack was brought into brilliant play.
The part of the French line under his command being endangered, he reported to Marshal Joffre: "My right wing is suffering severe pressure. My left is suffering from heavy assaults. I am about to attack with my centre."
He did. That attack stopped the German advance, turned their forces from the road to Paris, and sent them suddenly southward.
Looking back over those days, it is seen now that this action marked the shock-point of the war. It disjointed the whole German plan, saved France, and gave France and England time to raise and equip their armies, and mobilize their industrial resources. The German high command had promised the German people to finish the war in six weeks. General Foch inaugurated their finish in less than four.
His operations since that time are well remembered. Down to the day when at President Wilson's earnest urging he was placed in supreme command of the allied armies on all fronts, March 29, 1918, he had been steadily victorious. The week before, the Germans had begun their last and most powerful "drive." The manner in which General Foch sold terrain to them for the highest price they could be made to pay in German lives is understood now, and admired. When he had teased them along and worn them down, he sharply altered his strategy and attacked with a force and continuity so terrific that it practically destroyed the German armies, and compelled Germany to beg for the armistice that ended the war. From July 18, 1918, down to November 11, he pounded and powdered the enemy without cessation.
It is a matter of which Americans may well be proud that Marshal Foch, with keen judgment and knowledge of military values, selected the first and second divisions of the United States regular army to strike the first blow in that tremendous assault. The only other troops participating were those of a French colonial division, from Morocco.
GENERAL PERSHING'S THANKSGIVING ADDRESS
Thanksgiving Day, 1918, was celebrated in the most befitting manner at the American Army headquarters in France. After Bishop Brent's benediction, a band concert was given. General Pershing then addressed his victorious army as follows:
"Fellow soldiers: Never in the history of our country have we as a people, come together with such full hearts as on this greatest of all Thanksgiving days. The moment throbs with emotion, seeking to find full expression. Representing the high ideals of our countrymen and cherishing the spirit of our forefathers who first celebrated this festival of Thanksgiving, we are proud to have repaid a debt of gratitude to the land of Lafayette and to have lent our aid in saving civilization from destruction.
"The unscrupulous invader has been driven from the devastated scenes of his unholy conquest. The tide of conflict which during the dark days of midsummer threatened to overwhelm the allied forces has been turned into glorious victory. As the sounds of battle die away and the beaten foe hurries from the field it is fitting that the conquering armies should pause to give thanks to the God of Battles, who has guided our cause aright.
"VICTORY OUR GOAL"
"Victory was our goal. It is a hard won gift of the soldier to his country.
"In this hour of thanksgiving our eternal gratitude goes out to those heroes who loved liberty better than life, who sleep yonder, where they fell; to the maimed, whose honorable scars testify stronger than words to their splendid valor, and to the brave fellows whose strong, relentless blows finally crushed the enemy's power.
"Nor in our prayer shall we forget the widow who freely gave the husband more precious than her life, nor those who, in hidden heroism, have impoverished themselves to enrich the cause, nor our comrades who in more obscure posts here and at home have furnished their toll to the soldiers at the front.
"Great cause, indeed, have we to thank God for trials successfully met and victories won. Still more should we thank Him for the golden future, with its wealth of opportunity and its hope of a permanent, universal peace."
THE HOMECOMING OF KING ALBERT
The world rejoiced with Belgium when King Albert and the Queen returned in triumph to Brussels, November 21, 1918, just a little over four years after the bodeful day when they left it, in 1914. Belgium, the first martyr to German ferocity, had come back to its own—had justified the historic words of its King to the insolent Germans, "Belgium is a country, not a road," and stood firm, a David of the Nations, against the onslaught of the most awful and bloody hordes the world has seen since Attila, the other Hun, drove with his swarming savages over Europe, centuries ago, roaring that grass would never grow again where their horses trod.
Civilization had been justified. The "scrap of paper" had come to life. It was a great day, an hour of right and might, a soul-stirring climax to a most stupendous drama. The hero rode in triumph; and the villain, after ignominious flight, was hiding behind the skirts of a Dutchwoman, over the border.
No finer troops marched through Brussels on this gala day than the Yanks, who were given a conspicuous place in the celebration. A battalion of infantry from the Ninety-First American Division and a battery from the Fifty-Third Brigade, fresh from the beating they had given the Huns at Oudenark a few days before, were prominent in the lines, and shared in the plaudits a liberated people showered upon their own heroic troops. Troops that had held the last strip of Belgian soil through all those bitter years with a tenacity the Huns could never shake. These Belgian soldiers, had, of course, the place of honor. French and British troops, with bands playing and colors flying, shared in the glorious triumph.
The King and the royal family rode at the head of two Belgian divisions—a column of veterans stretching out fifteen miles. The day was like midsummer—bright and fair. All the roads leading to the Rue Royale and the Boulevard Anspach were packed hours before the King's arrival. At the Port de Flandre the throngs were so dense they were impassable. The whole city was gorgeously decorated. Aircraft were overhead, dropping confetti. The balconies all along the route were draped with flags and colored banners, and filled with people who, when the King and his family rode by, showered them with flowers and little flags. At one place a company of five hundred young women sang the Brabanconne, the Belgian national song, and the American, French and British national anthems.
The royal progress ended at the Palais de la Nation, where the King dismounted and entered, to address the parliament in its first assembly after the war—an historic session. Then he reviewed the troops in the great square, and thence went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the address of the Burgomaster Max, that sturdy figure, which the Germans at the height of their tyranny had not been able to budge.
AMERICA'S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES
When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men. Of these about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front. The others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other fronts. Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men each day.
Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies of every kind from home, and a transport system surpassing that of any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has ever seen.
The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American manufacture. In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars of foreign origin. To meet demands which the existing French railways were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were constructed. Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918.
The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and 140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation. Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the Americans.
But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in figures this phase of the work of the American army.
In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required, in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions, American engineers worked day and night. The whole region behind the American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it of a character never seen before in Europe.
To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions.
The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations, had the war continued.
One ration represents the quantity of each article each man is entitled to daily. It is interesting to note the supply of some of the principal ration components on hand.
The Americans had 390,000,000 rations of beans alone, 183,000, rations of flour and flour substitutes, 267,000,000 rations of milk; 161,000,000 rations of butter or substitutes; 143,000,000 rations of sugar; 89,000,000 rations of meat; 57,000,000 rations of coffee and 113,000,000 rations of rice, hominy and other foods, with requisites such as flavorings, fruits, candy and potatoes in proportion, while for smokers, there were 761,000,000 rations of cigarettes and tobacco in other forms.
It is difficult to describe in exact figures what the American expeditionary forces have done in the construction and improvement of dockage and warehouses since the first troops landed. This work has been proportionate to the whole effort in other directions. Ten steamer berths have been built at Bordeaux, having a total length of 4,100 feet. At Montoir, near St. Nazaire, eight berths were under construction with a total length of over 3,200 feet.
Great labor had been expended in dredging operations, repairing French docks and increasing railway terminal facilities. Warehouses having an aggregate floor area of almost 23,000,000 square feet had been constructed. This development of French ports increased facilities to such an extent that even if the Germans had captured Calais and other channel ports, as they had planned, the allies' loss would have been strategically unimportant.
So largely were facilities increased that the English armies could have had their bases at the lower French ports, if necessary. In other words, American work in port construction lessened to a material degree the value to the Germans of their proposed capture of the channel ports.
These figures serve in a measure to show the magnitude of American accomplishments, and the great machine is in operation today as the American Third army moves forward into German territory.
During the second stage of the Argonne operation a captured German major, while in casual conversation with an American officer said: "We know defeat is inevitable. We know your First and Second armies are operating and that your Third army is nearly ready to function. We know there are more and more armies to follow. We can measure your effort. The end must come soon."
AMERICAN FORCES AND CASUALTIES
At the opening of November, 1918, the United States armies on all fronts numbered about 2,200,000 men, and was being increased at an average rate of 250,000 a month. In transit from home ports to ports in Europe and Siberia, only one transport ship was lost, and of its complement of troops 126 men were drowned. The sinking was caused by collision with another ship in the same convoy, not by an enemy submarine. The United States has not lost one man in transport, by an act of a hostile ship or submarine.
Army and marine casualties reported by the commanders of overseas forces to the government at Washington up to November 27th, 1918 (after the seventeenth month of our participation in the war), were as follows:
Killed in action, 28,363; died of wounds, 12,101; died of disease, 16,034; died of other causes, 1,980; wounded, 189,995 (of this number 92,036 only slightly wounded); missing in action and prisoners, 14,250; making a total numbering 262,723.
War Department reports show that over-seas Air Service Casualties to October 24th, 1918, were 128 battle fatalities and 224 killed in accidents.
TOTAL OF CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES COMPARED ARE AS FOLLOWS
Federal troops killed in action, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease, 224,586; making total Federal fatalities 334,656.
Confederates killed and died of wounds, 95,000; died of disease, 164,000; making the total Confederate fatalities 259,000.
According to the War Department records, total dead of the Civil War is 618,524.
BRITISH, FRENCH AND ITALIAN LOSSES
British losses are estimated at 1,000,000 killed and 2,049,991 wounded, missing and prisoners.
The French losses are over 1,500,000 in killed and over 3,000,000 in wounded and prisoners.
The Italian losses, including casualties and prisoners, are estimated at a total of 2,000,000, including 500,000 dead.
7,589 CASUALTIES IN ROYAL AIR FORCES
Casualties in the royal air forces from April, 1918, when the air forces were amalgamated, to Nov. 11, were: Killed, 2,680; wounded, missing and prisoners, 4,909, according to an official statement by the air ministry.
CANADA'S CASUALTIES
Canada's casualty list up to November 1, 1918 (eleven days before the armistice), totaled 211,358, classified as follows: Killed in action, 34,877; died of wounds or disease, 15,457; wounded, 152,779; presumed dead, missing in action and known prisoners of war, 8,245. Canada's total land forces numbered nearly a half million men; that is, over eighty per cent of the men of the Dominion of military age, who were physically fit. They constituted over forty per cent of the male population. It is a strange coincidence of figures that the losses above enumerated constitute just about the same per cent (forty) of the armed forces, that those forces bore to the young nation's total manhood. Canada's efforts and sacrifices in the war have not been fully understood. When they are, they will evoke the admiration of the world, and of history.
GERMAN LOSSES
Exact figures covering, German losses since August 1st, 1914, when the war began with the German invasion of Belgium, cannot be had. The records are kept at Berlin and their figures have been withheld from even the people of Germany.
The only estimates available are those made by commanders opposing the German forces, and these were confessedly cautious, the allied policy being to minimize estimates of enemy reverses, so that no false encouragement might reach the public in any of the allied countries. On this basis, the estimates approximate a German loss of over 1,580, killed and 4,490,000 disabled, prisoners, and missing, a total of 6,070,000.
The Austrian losses in killed are estimated at 800,000 and 3,200, prisoners, wounded and missing.
TOTAL LOSSES
The world's actual loss of men in the war is estimated at not less than 10,000,000, counting those killed in action, died of wounds, or dead from other causes in prison camps or in the field.
These estimates do not include 800,000 Armenian Christians massacred by the Turks at the order of the German general staff, nor the Belgian and French civilians starved to death, infected with typhus and tuberculosis by hypodermic injection, or murdered outright by German soldiery under orders, nor the German wholesale slaughter of Serbians, of Greeks in Asia Minor, nor similar victims in Poland, Lithuania and southwest Russia, outnumbering no doubt the total loss of fighting men in all the armies. It is not likely these murders of noncombatants can ever be counted up.
GERMANY'S NAVAL SURRENDER
Surrender of the German navy and delivery of its ships to the Grand Fleet (consisting of the British and United States navies), began November 21, 1918, just ten days after the armistice was signed Ninety German ships of all grades constituted the first delivery. Admiral Sims, of the American Navy, King George and the Prince of Wales, were aboard the Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of Admiral Beatty, commanding the Grand Fleet. Five hundred British and American war vessels were in the receiving lines, and convoyed the surrendered German ships to the Firth of Forth, just below Edinburgh, Scotland, where they will lie until their disposal is determined. Among the German vessels surrendered that day were sixty submarines.
Other deliveries of German war vessels were continued. On November 29th it was discovered that of the 360 submarines of all types built by the Germans, the Grand Fleet had destroyed or captured 200. Of the remaining 160 nearly all had been surrendered by that date. This being the exact number called to surrender by the terms of the armistice, it would appear the allied conference was fully informed to that effect, and thereby was enabled to strip Germany of the last of these vessels, whose record of murder and piracy at sea is without any precedent whatever in history.
FORMER KAISERIN WEEPS
The meeting of former Emperor William and the former empress at Amerongen is described by a Dutch correspondent as follows:
"The gates were thrown open, the drawbridge was lowered with a noise of chains and iron bars that sounded very medieval, and in the courtyard before the castle an elderly man in a gray military cloak was seen at a distance, walking slowly and leaning on his stick. It was the ex-kaiser. The ex-kaiserin's car was driven into the courtyard, the ex-kaiser threw down his stick and, before the valet was able, opened the door and handed out his wife.
"They shook hands and then threw themselves into each other's arms, the ex-kaiserin falling upon her husband's shoulder and crying like a child."
FORMER KAISER'S ACT OF RENUNCIATION
The text of the former German emperor's act of renunciation, which was issued by the New German government, "in order to reply to certain misunderstandings which have arisen with regard to the abdication," follows:
By the present document I renounce forever my rights to the crown of Prussia and the rights to the German imperial crown. I release, at the same time, all the officials of the German empire and Prussia, and also all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Prussian navy and army and of contingents from confederate states from the oath of fidelity they have taken to me.