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Show If FOURTH YEAR Of WAR REVIEWED I V z. J Events big with tho fate of nations na-tions havo mnrked the fourth year of tho war which now comes to a close, jit has been a twelve months of alternate alter-nate hope and concern for the Powers of the Entente Alliance. It was on July 2S, 1911, that Austria Aus-tria declared war on Serbia, beginning begin-ning the great struggle. During tho past twelve months thore have been occurrences that In some respects havo been of even greater import in their Influence upon tho world than those in tho preceding period. 'Russia's col-lnpse, col-lnpse, the Italian defeat last autumn, tho stupendous drives of the Germans against tho Allied nrmien, and the wonderful defensive operations that have again and again chocked the enemy en-emy when success for him seemed near at hand havo held the world breathless. But, transcending the significance sig-nificance any event in the actual theatres the-atres of tho war, America's full participation par-ticipation in the conflict, involving the transportation overseas of more than a million men to engage in it must remain for all time the great outstanding feature of the fourth year of the struggle It Is upon America that the Entente is relying for the men and resources to turn the tide. A year ago the number of American troops going to Europe had not begun to assume large proportions. 'A few regulars and some National "Guardsmen "Guards-men had been sent to France, but most of the big military training camps were still being built and the men selected as tho first contingent to be called to the colors were still In citizens' ci-tizens' clothes. Until tho first day of August of 1917 the total number of American soldiers taken overseas was 2G.9G7. Soon after that date tho movement of troops was accellerated. Thousands were despatched across the Atlantic, during the winter months, but it was not until tho great German offensive was started lato in March 1918 that tho movement began to assume really noteworthy proportions. Tho figures for tho months from Aug. 1, 1917 to July 1, 1918, follow: August 18,323; September 32,523; October 38,529; November 23.01G; December De-cember 18,480; January -16,776; February Feb-ruary 48.027; March 83.S11; April 117,-212; 117,-212; May, 244.345; Juno 276.3S2. On July 1, 191S, there were 14,644 American marines In France, bringing the total number of American troops In that country and Italy up to 1,019,-115. 1,019,-115. During the recent fighting In France the work of the American soldiers has compared favorably with that of other fighting men in the world. They have held sectors hero" and there along the front. They arc in Alsace, and northward north-ward in the Lorraine sector. The famous fa-mous St. Mihicl sector is held by Americans, who are posted also on the line along the heights of the Meuse. East of Rhelms they took part in tho fighting during the last phase of the German offensive, while in the Chateau Cha-teau Thierry sector they held their 1ne in a vital region against the utmost ut-most fury of the Teutonic onslaught. North of Chateau Thierry, Americans helped to stop, the drivo of the Germans Ger-mans in the early days of June; and in the Somme sector, at Cantigny and Grlvcsenes they have given proof of their soldierly qualities. Tho Allies havo been called upon to face two great offensives during tho past year. The first of these came last October in Italy and the second. In "France, began on March 21. The German drives in France, while separated sep-arated by periods of from a few days! to several Weeks, have been consld-1 ered as different phases of the same i offensive. The abortive Austrian attack at-tack against Italy in June also is look -ed upon as inorely another attack' against tho western front and not as a distinct military operation. I But these offensives perhaps never i would havo been begun had It not been j for the collapse of Russia during tho past winter. Gorman and Austrian troops, released from the Russian front were taken to France and Italy to swell the masses of men hurled against tho Allies in tho Western theatre of op- orations. As long as Ryssia remained , in the fight sho held great numbers of Teutonic troops in the East, and her withdrawal from the war exercised I a fundamental influence on the course J of its development I Situation A Year Ago The year opened with the fortunes! of war apparently favoring the Entente. En-tente. Tho British had forced back) the Germans to the famous HInden- j burg line. The French had established themselves firmly along the Chemin I des Dames, north of tho Aisno. The! echoes of Verdun wero still ringing, the knell of German hopes In that sec-1 tor of the battle area. The Italians' wore holding tholr lines along the' Isonzo. The rejuvenated Russian "regiment of July First" had carried the war far Into the Austrian defenses in Bukowina and Gallcla. Through August and September 1917, there came rumors that Russia was! exhausted by the war, and quiet set- i tied down along the linos from the! gates of the Carpathians to the Baltic Stories wero heard of fraternization of German and Russian troops but assurances' as-surances' came from Petrograd that Russia would stand true to her allies. Fall Offensive In Italy The German and Austrian High Commands had no illusions ns to further fur-ther Russian belligerency. There came to the Allies ropdrts that tho Central Empires woro taking tho pick of their force from tho Russian front and concentrating them for a drive against some part of the line in tho western theatre. Then camo intimations intima-tions that the blow was aimed against Italy. The storm broke at Caporetto on Oct. 26 and almost Immediately tho whole Italian lino was thrown into disorder. Pouring through tho passes, where ia some instances disaffected Italian troops hold positions, tho Germans Ger-mans and Austrians made progress which from tho first was alarming, By wise gonoralshlp, tho Italian line was withdrawn from tho Isonzo. It paused at the Tagliamoruto and then rotirod further until it rested on the Piave, almost al-most within sight of the domos of Venice. Ven-ice. Hero the Italian army reformed its columns, consolidated Its positions by withdrawing from ' the Rhaetian mountains to tho Asiago plateau and, assisted by the French reinforcements brought to that battlefront, stood at buy. Russian Collapse Events In the meanwhile had been moving swiftly In Russia. On November Novem-ber 1, while the offensive against Italy was under way, Alexander F. Korensky then tho Russian premier, announced that Russia was worn out by the war j and that the Allies must shoulder the burden thenceforward. Seven days later Kercnsky was deposed de-posed by tho BolBheviki. Tho fall and flight of Korensky was tho signal for Germany and Austria to enter into peace negotiations with Russia. On November 30 the BolshovikI announced announc-ed that Russia was out of tho war and proposed Uiat all the Allies join in negotiations ne-gotiations for an armistice. Russian and Gorman representatives met at Brest Litovsk on December 22, and terms of peace woro exchanged. No progress was made with the negotiations, nego-tiations, and the conference was broken brok-en up on January 11. In tho meantime, mean-time, a now republic had sprung from the side of Russia. It was Ukralno, a territory extending along tho Rumanian Ruman-ian and Galician frontier from the Black Sea northward to Cholm, In ancient an-cient Poland. With this republic, the Central Empires made peaco late In January. The failure of the Bolshevik authorities authori-ties to reach any agrooment with the Germans resulted in tho renewal of hostilities on February 18, and the German armies moved forward once more. Brest-Litovsk Treaty This brought about a renewal of the peace negotiations, and at Brest Litovsk the Bolshevik! were given to understand that Germany would rec-ognizo rec-ognizo the kingdom of Poland, tho republic re-public of Ukralno, tho independence of Finland, and the separate governmental governmen-tal status of Llthuanin, Esthonla and Livonia. Turkey, as an ally of the Central Powers, was given a great area to tho east of the Black sea, including in-cluding the regions of Batum, Kars and Frivan. , With tho announcement of the final signing of the treaty between the Bolshevik! Bol-shevik! and Germany, tho Allies gave up hope that Russia would remain in the conflict, and at once they began to strengthen their lines against tho coming of tne great German offensive by which Berlin and Vienna hoped to force the Entente nations lo make peace. Rumania Capitulates. With the greater part of her territory terri-tory occupied by the Germans, Austrians Aus-trians and Bulgarians, with her gov-! ernment driven from Bucharest to Jas-sy Jas-sy and with the Russian Bolsheviki oppnly hostile toward her, Rumania found herself in a critical situation. Rumanian troops during February' and March advanced Into Bessarabia, a part of the new republic of Ukraine, but they were hemmed In by the enemy ene-my forces nnd obliged to withdraw. At last, on May 6, Rumania signed a treaty trea-ty of peace with the central powers. By this treaty Rumania lost the province of Dobrudja, on the south side of the Danube, which she had received after the Balkan war, and. agreed to a rectification of her western west-ern frontier. Economic concessions also wore made under pressure from the Teutonic alliance. Peace Tcntatives. The period between December 1, 1917, and March 1, 1918, mSy bo called the period oT peace tentative?. It Is truo that before the end of the summer sum-mer Pope Benedict made an appeal to the warring nations to enter into peace negotiations, the basis for pourparlers pour-parlers being the restoration of Belgium Bel-gium and Serbia and the return to Germany of her lost colonics. This appeal, ap-peal, made on August 13, was answered by President Wilson on August 29, when the president announced that tho Gorman government as constituted could not bo believed and that the United States was ready to enter into negotiations when the German people showed they desired peace and when j they spoke through any authority j which would be representative of j them. I The German answer to the popo's appeal reached the Vatican on September Septem-ber 21. It expressed hope that further fur-ther warfare could be averted through tho good offices of the pope, but declined de-clined lo enter into any engagement to meet what the allies had declared to bo their minimum war alms. German Peace Offer. German efforts to secure a peaco which would leave to Germany all tho fruits of her victory gained through Russia's collapse, and with Belgium and large portions of France to be used as pawns at the council table, began with the address of Count Czer-nin, Czer-nin, then Austrian foreign minister, at Brest-Litovsk.on December 26. The keynote of the address was general peaco without annexations and indemnities. indem-nities. On January S, President Wilson, addressing ad-dressing congress, said thut the United Unit-ed Sfates must know for whom the German rulers were speaking. The address was a complement to ani ad-dross ad-dross made on January 5. by David Lloyd George, tho British promier. To these addresses reply was made by Imperial Chancellor von Hortllng of Germany, and Count Czernln. The latter was pacific and conciliatory in j tone, while the former, alluding to "the ' good German sword," showed ho was speaking for the militarists of the Germanic Ger-manic powers. "Four Principles" Enunciated. To these replies there was a rejoinder rejoin-der by President Wilson, -who, on February Feb-ruary 11, again addressing congress, laid down what havo como to bo known as tho "four principles" upon which peace can bo based. Briefly, these prlncplcs were: Final settlement must be based on essential Justice. Peoples and provinces arc not to bo bartered about like chattels. Every territorial settlement must be for the benefit and In the interest of the populations concerned. All well-defined national aspirations shall be met with the utmost satisfaction satisfac-tion consistent with the future peace. Pope Benedict, in a pastorlal letter Issued at Easter, made another appeal ap-peal for concord among the peoples of tho world, but it brought forth no tangible results. At the pope's behest, be-hest, prayers for peaco were offored In Catholic churches throughout tho, world on SL Peter's day, June' 28. In April there came revelations from Paris that Emperor Charles of Austria Aus-tria had written lottors to Prince Six-tus Six-tus of Eourbon, a relative. In theso communications the Austrian monarch conceded the claim of France to Alsace Al-sace and Lorraine and hinted that peace overtures would be welcomed, As the result of this. Count Czernln, the Austrian foreign spinisler was removed re-moved from office, The most recent addresses on the subject of peaco havo boon dellvorcd in the German relchstag, one by Dr. Richard von Kuohlmann, the foreign minister, and 4he other to.' Jtaperial Chancellor von Hertling. The former's sensational admission that the sword by Itself could not bring peace resulted result-ed in his resignation, and von Hert-ling's Hert-ling's address voiced the sentiment that as long as tho allies were intent upon "destroying Germany," the war must go on. The Enemy Offensives. Last winter it becomo known that the Germans were massing forces on the western front. Reports came that large units were training behind the lines and that new and more terrible engines of war than had been known before were to be used in German efforts ef-forts to break the allied lines, crush their armies and force them to uake peace. The drive was well advertised and even the place where it was to bo launched was known with comparative compara-tive certainty. On the morning of March 21, tho Germans began their attack from the vicinity of Arras, on tho north, to La Fere, on the south, and centering their heaviest columns agaliiSt the British forces, under General Cough, at St. fcjuentin. Staggering be:oro the impact o the blow, the British army fell back rapidly. rapid-ly. For oight clays the Germans, poured through the old allied line In an effort to crush the British and drive a wedge" be i ween them and the French, who were holding tho lines to the south. Then came a period of reacMon and tho Germans camo to a stop. They had dnven ahead for 35 miles, along a from extending more than fifty miles bctore they were halted. Hardly had their legions been held before Amiens than a new offensive was begun In Flanders on April 2. It swept the, British back through Ar-imcntleres, Ar-imcntleres, but did not break their I lines. The British with the, French I who wero rushed up to the front, stop-fped stop-fped tho Germans after they had i reached the hills southwest of Ypres. There, on April 0. the Germans suffered suf-fered a terrible defeat that halted their offensive in thnt quarter. J Foch in Supreme Command. In tho midst of the drive In the sector sec-tor toward Amier.s the allied nations took n vitally important step. They named General Ferdinand Foch. hero of the first battle of the Marno. generalissimo gener-alissimo of tho allied forces on the western front, which Includes all tho line In Italy as woll as In France. Even tho Murman coast, in northern Russia, has been held to be undor his command. After a period of quiet, tho Germans attacked once more, this time on tho Alsnc river, and in seven days they '.cached the Marno ai Chata?u Thior-ry. Thior-ry. making a penetrjllon of about 2$ miles. At the Marno tbey wore cheeked cheek-ed rnd the ImpVus of the blow was1 Irol-en. With hardly a day's pause for re-orgnn'zatlon re-orgnn'zatlon of their forces, tl-e G.t-i,;.h G.t-i,;.h again attaiV;.- 1. choosing ll. " see. tor botween Montdldier and Noyon, on li.c southern side o! 'he saliont diiven Into ;he allied iino during tho M:trch otff-usivc, as stake of Lbelv on-sir.ighl. on-sir.ighl. This oifinsive ran f.-. five plegne after losses which were describ ed as unprecedented had bceiih inflicted upon the Germans. ?J From June 14 until July ICS the Germans Ger-mans were engaged In shiftaing their forces and then they again! attcked. This lime the line of attack was from Chateau-Thierry eastward, anound to the north of Rhelms and thfen down the Vcsle river to Prunay aind from that village eastward to icJassIges. This attack at the close of the year developed into one of the mtyst ambitious ambi-tious of the German strokes. Italians Stand Firm.S On June 15, the Austrians wegan a drive against Italy. It was a( failure, the Austrians crossed the Pirave, but on the west bank met with such, stubborn stub-born resistance that progress was inv possible. Slowly the Austrians were driven back toward the river, land then the Piave, swollen by rains in the mountains, completed the overthrow of Austria's hopes. After suffering terrible ter-rible losses the Austrians retreated to the. eastern bank of the Piave from the Montello plateau to the Adriatic. Aufong the year's operations of conr j (Continued on Next Paje) ! oo . FOURTH YEAR OF WAR REVIEWED parative lesser importance were the British drives in Palestine and Mesopotamia; Meso-potamia; the Turkish advance in the Caucasus; the French and Italian offensive of-fensive in Albania; and the fighting in the German African colonies. Jerusalem was captured by the British Brit-ish on December 10, and shortly afterward aft-erward the fall of Poricho was announced. an-nounced. Since the taking of Jericho the British forces in Palestine have not been active on the offensive. General Maude led the British troops into Bagdad on March 11, and shortly afterward died from cholera. His forces pushed further up the Tigris until the intense heat of summer terminated ter-minated operations. The Turks after the collapse of Russia Rus-sia took advantage of the demoralized condition of the Russian forces to advance ad-vance through the Caucasus and obtain ob-tain possession of the regions subsequently subse-quently ceded them by the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The French and Italian drive in Albania Al-bania began on July 6 and is still in progress. During the year British forces in Africa drove German forces before them in German East Africa and in German Southwest Africa and finally compelled them to disperse or surrender. sur-render. This took from Germany the last of the vast colonial possessions held by her when the Avar began. Submarine Warfare. The past year has been marked by a gradual decline of submarine sinkings sink-ings as compared with the number of ships being built by the entente allies. The operations of the British and American Am-erican destroyers havo spread terror among the "wasps of the sea," while a great mine field completed in May by the British navy converted virtually the whole North sea into an area clos- ed against U-boat activities. The harbors of Zeebrugge and Os-tend, Os-tend, from which German submarines had been operated against entente shipping, were either .sealed entirely or made virtually valueless as submarine subma-rine bases by daring naval and air raids by the British in May. U-Boato In American Waters. German submarines visited American Ameri-can waters In June and sank at least ten ships, the field of the U-boat operations op-erations being from tie North New Jersey coast south to the Virginia capes and easterly half way t,o tho Burmudas. Tho only United States transport lost while carrying troops to Europe was the Tuscania, which was torpedoed torpe-doed off the north coast of Ireland on February 6 with a loss of 212 men. Hospital Ships Sunk. During the year eleven hospital ships have been sunk by submarines, the latest and most flagrant case of this violation of tho Geneva convention conven-tion being the destruction of the British Brit-ish steamer Llandovery Castle, carrying carry-ing Canadian nurses and doctors. This took place on Juno 27, only twenty-four twenty-four of the 258 persons on board being rescued. The total shipping reported sunk sinco August 1, 1917, is more than V 250,000 tons. Against this destruction of shipping the allies have combined their shipbuilding ship-building capacity. The actual number of tons of shipping launched and put into service has not been published. Official announcements have been made in the recent past, however, to the effect that more ships are being built than are being sunk. On July 4, ninety vessels were launched at American Am-erican shipyards. Losses in Battle. The year's fighting has entailed great losses for most of the belligerents. belliger-ents. During the drive into Italy last October and November the Teutonic armies claimed the capture of more than 180,000 Italians. In the German offensives in Franco this year about 190,000 French, British, American and Portuguese were reported to have been taken prisoners. Added to these losses are the casualties cas-ualties in killed and wounded. No definite def-inite figures have been issued by Germany Ger-many and Austria but it has been reported re-ported on what appears to be good authority that in tho fighting from March 21 till June 1-1 the Germans lost moro than 500.000 men. The French and British losses were considerably con-siderably smaller, as the allies were fighting from entrenched positions. Financial Aspects. The United States has floated three great Liberty loans. The proceeds of these loans havo aggregated $10,788,-541,900. $10,788,-541,900. The total war cost to the United States according to latest available av-ailable figures, is $13,800,000,000. Sinco tho nation entered the war it has extended credits to the allies aggregating ag-gregating $6,091,590,000. The total cost of the war to England Eng-land up to December 15, 1917, was placed at 6,242,000,000, while French votos of credit are somewhat smaller. At latest rep'orts the total of the German Ger-man war loans approximated $31,000,-000,000. $31,000,-000,000. Internal Disorders. There have been numerous reports of disorders in countries engaged in the war. Riots and bloodshed have been reported from Germany and Austria Aus-tria many times during the past spring and summer and there is little doubt that the Slavic races of Austria are seething with discontent. Ireland came to the center of tho stage in this connection early in May, when a pro -German plot was detected but nipped in the bud, with the arrest of seventy-eight leaders of the Sinn Fein. Recently disaffection was reported against the British in South Africa, but it has apparently been stamped out. One Monarch Died. During the year one ruler of a belligerent bel-ligerent country died. The death of the Sultan of Turkey was announced in June, subsequent reports intimating ho had been murdered. Assistance for Russia. Since the collapse of Russia, the allied al-lied nations have sought to find a way to assist the people who are being exploited ex-ploited by the Germans. French, British Brit-ish and American forces have been landed on the Murman or Kola peninsula, penin-sula, on the north coast. They have not actively intervened, however, , I being there only to protect allied pro- 'llHl perty which had been landed at the liklH port of Kola before Russia withdrew alllM from the Entente alliance. flllll In Siberia there is a well-defined .ijlBI anti-Bolshevik movement which has fulpfil been built up around Czecho -Slovak nlM prisoners of war who armed them- iivU selves and inflicted defeats on the Md fl Bolsheviki. A new government has been set up there under General Hor- ililil vath, president of the Chinese Eastern 'il'n Railroad. Japanese, British and Amcr- II 111 lean marines haye been in the city of ill jfl Vladivostock for months. 1 01 Neutrals. jjfi Countries which are not engaged in the war have suffered during the hMmI twelve months, Switzerland and Hoi- f land, being adjacent to Germany, have been threatened by the Central pow- jjj!J ers a number of times in matters rcl Mil HI atlve to economic concessions. Hoi- land especially, has been beset with fjjti difficulties, and at present the allies j I are protesting against' her exporting jfl j 1 supplies to Germany. w j 1 Norway has signed an agreement j 1 with the United States by which com- lijjj merclal relations may be carried on. i 11 Sweden(has been dealing openly with Germany and has been threatened with a virtual boycott by Great Brit- IjBj aln. Both nations have lost severely jit) through the depredations of German I Wk submarines. wjA j Denmark is in a serious plight also I 1 and it has been reported that there is I ill J great suffering among the people of I 1 1 1 that country. ' .1 J New Belligerents. , Three new countries have declared war on Germany during the year. They ' ( M are Costa Rica, Guatemala and Hayti. -M The Argentine, although near a break M because of the machinations of von Luxburg, the German ambassador at - Buenos Ayres, has taken no step in '-j that direction. Mexico has remained neutral. r |