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Show TRIUMPH OF RIGHT. Tho Germans will sin tho pence treaty as it stands. There will bo no written reservations. Mental ones doubtless will be numerous enough, and . tho plenipotentiaries of the nation which in lfll-1 started out to whip tho known world will affix their signatures signa-tures maintaining to tho last that Germany Ger-many is accepting under duress a I "peace of violence." The outBtand- j ing fact is that Germany will sign and sign without conditions. Pleas, threats, counterproposals and requests continued con-tinued to almost the final minute of tho period of grace allowed the Huns have failed to. shake the determination determina-tion of tho allied and associated powers. pow-ers. . Although tho Germans had pleaded that the treaty provision acknowledging acknowledg-ing Germany's responsibility ' for the war and calling for tho trial of the (exiled emperor for "a supreme of-i of-i J fense against morality and the sanc- tity of treaties" bo .stricken out: the j will of the victorious powers is to pre-! pre-! vail. Likewise a request for an. extension ex-tension of time for acknowledgment by Germany of willingness to meet the -allied terms is peremptorily refused. 5 Tho.'' final exchanges of notes left no j doubt as to tho spirit of the allies and I the itter and absolute surrender of ! 1 tho Germans,- " What changes time has wrought! Almost Al-most five years to a day have elapsed sinco tho first event marking the beginning be-ginning of the world war the assassination assas-sination of tho Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo on July 2S, 1914. A month, later Austria, having presented an ultimatum, declared de-clared war on Serbia and the train was fired. The action of Austria was followed by a general mobilization in Russia and tho declaration of a "state of war" in Germany. Within tho next few days nearly all of the' great nations na-tions of Europo had entered the struggle. strug-gle. Germany declared war, on Eus-, Eus-, sia on August 2 and was at war with I I France tho next day. Great Britain, t having protested the invasion of Bel- gium, declared war on Germany on ! August 4. On the same day President I Wilson proclaimed the neutrality of ; the United States. The Germans advanced until September Sep-tember 6-10, when at the battle of the Marne, they were turned back by the French and retreated ..to the Aisne, where tho battle-line remained practically prac-tically unchanged for three, years. The rush of events found the French in ' retreat, the British expeditionary force i landed in Franco and the Russians in vading east Prussia by tho end of August. Germany lost her first colony, to England, in Africa, in this period and also suffered her first naval defeat de-feat at the hands of the British in Helgoland Eight. The American 'merchantman William P. Erye was sunk by the German cruiser Prince Eitel Eriedet ich January Janu-ary 2S, 1915. Following this Germany inaugurated U-boat warfare with the proclamation of la war zone" about the British isles. This brought forth the American note of "strict aceounta-biliTy" aceounta-biliTy" for the loss of American lives and property. Announcement of the British blockade w-as made on March 1. On May 7 the Cunard liner Lusi-tania Lusi-tania was sunk with the loss of 1154 lives. 114 being Americans. Germany, in response to protests, expressed "regret" "re-gret" for the loss of Americans and later promised to sink no passenger ships without warning. Italy entered the war against Austria-Hungary on May 23, and against Turkey on May 2''. Great Britain declared de-clared war on Bulgaria October 14. By the end of 1915, Pr. Pumba, Austrian 1 ambassador, and Boy-Ed and Von " ' Papen, the German naval and military attaches in the United States had been recalled. Early in 191(3 Germany warned all neutrals to keep off armed merchant vessels. On April IS the United States warned Germany that diplomatic relations rela-tions would be severed unless the methods of U-boat warfare were changed. Many of the American de- ; mands were met in the German note of ' May 4. The greatest naval battle of the ; war, tho battle of Jutland, occurred ; on .May 31, the German high seas fleet being forced hack to its base never- to emerL'e again. Germany's first peace offer came on iJerembcr 12, JO JO. it was refused by the allies as "empty and insin- ':--re " in a formal reply on January j Ki, 1917, the allies demanded " n-stora- (ion, reparation and indc:un :r ;-s. " On January 22, 'residenl VH.,n aJ- J 1ressel the senate, giving his ideas of i the necessary s'eps to worl 1 peace. ; American merchant ships were ordered armed on March 12. fievolmiou began be-gan in Russia on March 11, the czar's abdication following shortly after. A state, of v;n- was' declared in existence ex-istence between the l.'nited States and Germany en April ii, 1917. Tin1 first American troops' reached Franco on June 20. American and German forces clashed for the first tiaie on November Novem-ber 3. The United States declared war on Austria Hungary lecerj.ljer 7. American troops we're for the first time iinnouneed as occupying first line trenches in France on January 31, 1918. The Germans in preparation for their 'much advertised "Frieden-sturm," "Frieden-sturm," bombarded Paris. with their long-range guns on March 24. On March 29 Marshal- Eoeh was made commander-in chief of all allied troops in France. The Germans attacked tit various points along the lino, driving wedges into the allied position but nowhere no-where breaking through. This fighting lasted until the end of May. l'och 's counter offensive began in June, with success by American marines .at Chateau-Thierry, und advances by the French and British at other points. Throughout the summer the allied forces continued to press the advantage, advan-tage, forcing the enemy back until practically .all of tho early gains of the spring had been wiped out. Allied success in the Balkans forced Bulgaria to . withdraw from tho war on September 30, when an armistice was signed. Turkey' followed shortly afterward. On October 6, Prince Maximilian, Maxi-milian, tho German chancellor, addressed ad-dressed a note to President Wilson asking ask-ing him to take a hand in the restoration restora-tion of peaei), and saying that Germany Ger-many accepted the president's program pro-gram of January 8. President Wilson replied on October 23 that no armistice armis-tice . could be entered into with tho "present imperial government of Germany." Ger-many." Three days later came the announcement that the German kaiser had retired. Austria ..agreed to an armistice with Italy on November 4,' and hostilities . on the Italian front .were brought to an end., The allied armistice terms were, given to Marshal Foch November 5, and six days later the German armistice delegates signed tho terms at Senlis. Then began the weary work of framing the terms of peace, now about to culminate in Germany's Ger-many's complete surrender. Once imperial im-perial Germany, now broken, a republic repub-lic in name, is rendered impotent and all but crushed economically as a result re-sult of the madness of her military rulers. So that the chapter written in blood since. 1914 is about to close. The once proud and puissant Germany which drank to the toast of "the day" is to :sce that day dawn full of humiliation for all things German. Kaiser in exile; German naval might at the bottom bot-tom of the sea, German imperialism now a nightmare, German colonies gone, Germany builded by Bismarck shattered, her allies in the crime of 1914 torn apart what an awakening from the dreams which sent millions of Germans goose-stepping towards Paris and dotted Europo with millions of graves of Liberty's defenders and would-be assassins! The- triumph of right over might is reassurin; for the world's future ro-pose ro-pose from the peril that sprang at the throat of civilization at the command from Berlin almost five years ago. But justice will , not be completely vindicated vindi-cated until the authors of that command com-mand are brought to face tho penally for that enormous crime against humanity. |