



Produced by Charlene Taylor, Christine P. Travers and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)





[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected.
Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other
inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been
maintained.

Page 382: Words are missing in the sentence "The genuine leaders of
the Socialists should [...] the labor organizations realized
immediately the policy which the dark forces were initiating." The
place is marked with [see TN].]




THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR

  History of the European War from Official Sources

  Complete Historical Records of Events to Date,
  Illustrated with Drawings, Maps, and Photographs

  Prefaced by

  What the War Means to America
  Major General Leonard Wood, U.S.A.

  Naval Lessons of the War
  Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight, U.S.N.

  The World's War
  Frederick Palmer

  Theatres of the War's Campaigns
  Frank H. Simonds

  The War Correspondent
  Arthur Ruhl

  Edited by

  Francis J. Reynolds
  Former Reference Librarian of Congress

  Allen L. Churchill
  Associate Editor, The New International Encyclopedia

  Francis Trevelyan Miller
  Editor in Chieft, Photographic History of the Civil War

  P. F. Collier & Son Company
  New York


[Illustration: _Major General John J. Pershing, appointed to organize
and command the American forces in France, is shown landing in France
on June 12, 1917. French officers and officials of high rank are there
to welcome him. His arrival is recognized as an epoch-making date in
the war, for it foreshadows the creation of a great American Army in
France._]


THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR

  SOMME. RUSSIAN DRIVE
  FALL OF GORITZ. RUMANIA
  GERMAN RETREAT. VIMY
  REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
  UNITED STATES AT WAR


VOLUME VI

P. F. Collier & Son. New York

  Copyright 1916
  By P. F. Collier & Son




CONTENTS


PART I.--WESTERN FRONT--SOMME AND VERDUN

CHAPTER                                                             Page

        I. French and British Advances                                 9

       II. Further Successes--French Capture Maurepas                 13

      III. German Counterattacks                                      16

       IV. Operations at Verdun--British Victories in the Somme       19

        V. The "Tanks"--British Capture Martinpuich                   21

       VI. Capture of Combles--Air Raids                              25

      VII. British Capture Eaucourt L'Abbaye-Regina Trench            28

     VIII. Continued Allied Advance                                   31

       IX. French Retake Douaumont                                    34

        X. Germans Lose Fort Vaux--French Take Saillisel              37

       XI. British Successes in the Ancre                             41

      XII. Operations on the French Front--Further Fighting in
             the Ancre                                                47

     XIII. Weather Conditions--Movements Around Loos                  51

      XIV. French Win at Verdun                                       53

       XV. Canadians at Arras--Nivelle in Command                     55

      XVI. German Attacks at Verdun--Result of Six Months' Fighting   58

     XVII. German Attack on Hill 304--British Surprise Attack         61


PART II.--EASTERN FRONT

    XVIII. The New Drive Against Lemberg                              70

      XIX. The Battle on the Stokhod River                            76

       XX. Renewed Drive Against Lemberg                              81

      XXI. The Fighting from Riga to Lutsk                            86

     XXII. Fighting in the Carpathians                                90

    XXIII. Winter at the Eastern Front                                93


PART III.--THE BALKANS

     XXIV. Rumania's Military Strength                                95

      XXV. Hostilities Begin                                          96

     XXVI. Bulgaria Attacks                                           98

    XXVII. The Germans Arrive                                        103

   XXVIII. The Rumanian Raid Across the Danube                       106

     XXIX. Mackensen Pressed Back                                    111

      XXX. The Rumanians Pressed Back                                113

     XXXI. The Battle of the River Argechu                           117

    XXXII. Bucharest Falls                                           119

   XXXIII. Sarrail's Offensive                                       124

    XXXIV. Unrest in Greece                                          126

     XXXV. A Greek Army Surrenders to Germany                        129

    XXXVI. The Serbians Advance                                      132

   XXXVII. The Greeks on the Firing Line                             134

  XXXVIII. Seizure of the Greek Fleet                                136

    XXXIX. The Bulgarians Driven Back                                138

       XL. Monastir Falls                                            140

      XLI. Greek Fights Greek                                        143

     XLII. Fighting in the Streets of Athens                         145

    XLIII. The Serbians Checked                                      148


PART IV.--AUSTRO-ITALIAN FRONT

     XLIV. The Fall of Goritz                                        149

      XLV. Fall and Winter on the Austro-Italian Front               153

     XLVI. Fighting on Mountain Peaks                                159


PART V.--WAR IN THE AIR AND ON THE SEA

    XLVII. Aeroplane Warfare                                         168

   XLVIII. Zeppelin Raids                                            176

     XLIX. Submarine Warfare                                         182


PART VI.--THE UNITED STATES AND THE BELLIGERENTS

        L. The Old Menace                                            189

       LI. The U-53's Exploits                                       194

      LII. Gathering Clouds                                          200

     LIII. Rupture With Germany                                      205

      LIV. Nothing Settled                                           212


PART VII.--WESTERN FRONT

       LV. The German Retreat on the Ancre                           217

      LVI. The German Retreat Continues--French Recover 120 Towns    227

     LVII. The British Troops Capture Vimy Ridge and Monchy--French
             Victories on the Aisne                                  239

    LVIII. French Victories in Champagne--The British Capture
             Bullecourt                                              252

      LIX. The Battle of Messines Ridge--British Smash the
             German Salient South of Ypres                           263

       LX. The Germans Defeat British on Belgian Coast--Intense
             Fighting in the Champagne and at Verdun                 276


PART VIII.--THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY

      LXI. The Interim                                               291

     LXII. Berlin's Tactics                                          297

    LXIII. Armed Neutrality                                          304

     LXIV. Germany's Bid to Mexico                                   312

      LXV. A State of War                                            317

     LXVI. Building the War Machine                                  328

    LXVII. Men and Money in Millions                                 344

   LXVIII. Envoys from America's Allies                              351

     LXIX. In It at Last                                             356


PART IX.--THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

      LXX. Foreshadowing Revolution                                  363

     LXXI. The Rise of Nihilism                                      365

    LXXII. Revolutionary Doctrines                                   367

   LXXIII. Russian War Spirit Aroused                                372

    LXXIV. Rasputin, the Evil Spirit of Russia                       374

     LXXV. Treachery of the Autocracy                                378

    LXXVI. Party Intrigues                                           380

   LXXVII. The Work of Traitors                                      383

  LXXVIII. Threatening of the Storm                                  386

    LXXIX. Revolution                                                389

     LXXX. The Culmination                                           392

    LXXXI. The New Government                                        395

   LXXXII. The Czar Abdicates                                        400

  LXXXIII. First Acts of the New Regime                              404

   LXXXIV. Socialism Supreme                                         406

    LXXXV. Policies Proclaimed                                       409

   LXXXVI. Kerensky Saves Russia from Herself                        412

  LXXXVII. The American Commissions                                  416


PART X.--EASTERN FRONT

 LXXXVIII. The End of Winter at the Eastern Front                    421

   LXXXIX. Effects of the Russian Revolution                         424

       XC. The Beginning of Russian Rehabilitation                   428

      XCI. The Russian July Offensive                                433

     XCII. The Capture of Halicz and Kalusz                          436

    XCIII. The Collapse of the Russian Offensive                     440

     XCIV. The Russian Rout in Galicia and the Bukowina              445


PART XI.--AUSTRO-ITALIAN FRONT

      XCV. Stalemate on the Italian Fronts                           452

     XCVI. Spring on the Austro-Italian Front                        457

    XCVII. The Italian Drive Against Trieste                         462

   XCVIII. The Height of the Italian Offensive                       468


PART XII.--WAR ON THE SEA

     XCIX. Submarine Warfare                                         475

        C. Naval Operations                                          480


PART XIII.--WAR IN THE AIR

       CI. Aerial Warfare                                            485

      CII. Air Raids                                                 492


  INDEX                                                              495




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


  General Pershing Landing at Boulogne, France            _Frontispiece_

                                                           Opposite Page

  Sir Douglas Haig and Marshal Joffre                                 30

  Notice Posted in French Munitions Works                             62

  General von Mackensen in Rumania                                   110

  British Armored Motor Car, or "Tank"                               222

  Curtain or Barrage Fire                                            286

  Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States                     302

  American Naval Gunners Fighting Submarines                         350

  A. F. Kerensky Addressing Russian Troops                           430




LIST OF MAPS

                                                                    Page
  Battle Lines on All Fronts, August 1, 1917
    (_Colored Map_)                                       _Front Insert_

  Verdun Front, February 1, 1917                                      38

  Allies' Gain at the Somme, up to February, 1917                     66

  Attack in the Riga Sector                                           87

  Teutonic Invasion of Rumania                                       104

  New German Submarine War Zone of February 1, 1917                  207

  The Entire Western Front, August 1, 1917                           220

  The German Retreat on the Western Front, March 18, 1917            233

  Taking of Vimy Ridge by the Canadians, April 9 and 10, 1917        240

  The French Offensive on the Craonne Plateau, Champagne             257

  The Taking of Messines Ridge, June 7, 1917                         266

  The Somme Battle Front, August 1, 1917                             283

  The Russian Offensive and Retreat in Galicia                       446

  The Entire Eastern Battle Front, August 1, 1917                    450




PART I--WESTERN FRONT--SOMME AND VERDUN




CHAPTER I

FRENCH AND BRITISH ADVANCES


The first month of the Allied offensive on the Somme front closed
quietly. The British and French forces had every reason to feel
encouraged over their successes. In the two thrusts since July 1,
1916, they had won from the Germans nearly twenty-four square miles of
territory. Considering the extent to which every fraction of a mile
was fortified and defended, and the thoroughness of the German
preparations to make the district impregnable, the Allied gains were
important. As a British officer said at the time, it was like digging
badgers out of holes--with the proviso that every badger had machine
guns and rifles at the hole's mouth, while the approach to each was
swept by the fire from a dozen neighboring earthworks.

It was estimated that in the first month of the Allied offensive on
the Somme the German casualties amounted to about 200,000 men, while
the Anglo-French forces lost less than a fourth of that number. The
Allies claimed to have captured about 13,000 prisoners and between
sixty and seventy field guns, exclusive of machine guns and the
smaller artillery.

With the capture of Pozieres it might be said that the second phase of
the Battle of the Somme was concluded. The Allied forces were well
established on the line to which the second main "push" which began
July 14, 1916, was directed.

During the first three days of August, 1916, comparative quiet
prevailed along the Somme front, and no important offensive was
attempted by either side. Minor fighting continued, however, every
day, and during the nights the English positions were heavily
bombarded by the German guns.

On the night of August 4, 1916, the British assumed the offensive,
advancing from Pozieres on a front of 2,000 yards. The attack, which
seems to have taken the Germans by surprise, was entirely successful,
as the British troops gained 1,000 yards of the German second line and
captured over 400 prisoners. This second line consisted of two
strongly fortified trenches running parallel, which were backed by a
network of supporting and intermediate trenches, all strongly
constructed, with deep dugouts and cunningly devised machinery of
defense. When the Australians made the thrust forward from Pozieres
while the British cooperated on the left over the ground to the east
of the village, they found when going over the enemy trenches that in
many places the British guns had wrecked and almost obliterated the
German second lines. After the British advance the Germans launched
two spirited counterattacks, which were easily repulsed by the British
artillery. The British casualties were unimportant, but the troops
suffered intensely from the heat of the evening and from the gas masks
that they were forced to wear, as previous to the attack the Germans
had bombarded with gas shells.

Minor fighting and artillery duels continued intermittently until the
morning of August 6, 1916, when the Germans delivered two fierce
attacks on the ground gained by the British east of Pozieres. The
Germans, employing liquid fire in one attack, forced the British back
from one of the trenches they had captured on August 4, 1916, but part
of this was later regained. The following day the Germans continued
their attacks north and northeast of Pozieres on the new British
lines. After heavy bombardment of the British positions, the Germans
penetrated their trenches, but were forced out again, having suffered
some casualties and leaving a number of prisoners in British hands. In
front of Souchez the Germans exploded a mine, and here some of their
troops succeeded in entering the English trenches over the crater,
but were quickly bombed out again.

On the same date late in the afternoon the French forces to the north
of the Somme carried out a well-planned attack which resulted in the
capture of a line of German trenches between the Hem Wood and the
river. The French took 120 prisoners and a number of machine guns.

On August 8, 1916, the British positions north and east of Pozieres
were heavily bombarded by German artillery. In the evening of the same
date British troops pushing forward engaged the enemy near the station
of Guillemont. A bomb attack made by the Germans on the eastern
portion of the Leipzig salient south of Thiepval was driven back with
some casualties. Two British raiding parties about the same time
succeeded in entering the German lines north of Roclincourt and blew
up some dugouts. On this date a squadron of ten German aeroplanes
endeavored to cross the British lines on a bombing expedition, but
were driven off by four British offensive patrols. Two of the German
aeroplanes were forced to descend behind their own lines, while the
others were scattered and did not return to attack. In the evening of
the same day the Germans made four attacks on the British lines to the
northwest of Pozieres, and in one were successful in occupying a
portion of a British trench.

During this day the French north of the Somme, while the British were
fighting at Guillemont, advanced east of Hill 139, north of
Hardecourt, and took forty prisoners. The Germans, making two attempts
to recapture the trenches won from them by the French on the previous
day, were beaten back, leaving a great number of dead on the field. In
the evening French troops captured a small wood and a heavily
fortified trench to the north of the Hem Wood, making their gains for
the two days, an entire line of German trenches on a front of three
and three-quarter miles and a depth of from 330 to 350 yards.

In the battered and shell-pitted region to the northwest of Pozieres
fighting between the British and German troops continued unceasingly.
The slight gains made by the British troops were won only by the
greatest risk and daring, for the whole plateau between Thiepval and
Pozieres (about 3,000 yards) lay open to the German fire from the
former place. A great part of it could be reached by machine guns,
while German batteries at Courcelette and Grandcourt commanded the
ground at close range. A network of German trenches, well planned,
stretched in almost every direction. Flares and shell fire made the
region as bright as day during the night, and it was only by rushing a
trench from saps made within a few feet of the objectives or by
breaking into a trench and bombing along it that the British were able
to achieve any small gains. And gains were made on this terrible
terrain daily, though only a few yards might be won, and a dozen or
more prisoners captured.

The British attack on the Germans around Guillemont, which took place
as previously noted on August 8, 1916, was at first successful. A
section of the troops carried some trenches, and then pushing on
gained a useful piece of ground south of Guillemont with few
casualties. Another (the left) section of British troops were unable
to proceed farther on account of the darkness. Another section, owing
to miscalculation, swept through the German trenches straight into the
village of Guillemont, where they lost their direction amid the ruins
and confusion. Working their way through the shattered streets they
proceeded to dig themselves in when they had reached the far northeast
corner of the place. With enemies all around them, and the breadth of
the ruined village between them and their friends, the adventure could
have but one conclusion. A few of the men succeeded in getting back to
the British lines, but the remainder fell into the hands of the
enemy.




CHAPTER II

FURTHER SUCCESSES--FRENCH CAPTURE MAUREPAS


In the morning of August 11, 1916, after the usual preparatory
bombardment, French troops carried the whole of the third German
position north of the Somme from the river northeast of
Hardecourt--that is to say, on a front of about four miles and to an
average depth of about a mile. This third German position consisted of
three, and in some places of four, lines of trenches strongly defended
and with the usual trench blockhouses. The French attacked in force
along the whole front, and in eighty minutes, according to the
description given in French newspapers, carried the German position at
a small cost in casualties compared with results. The Germans fought
bravely and stubbornly, but the French artillery did such effective
work before the advance attack that in the hand-to-hand conflicts that
followed the French troops readily overcame the enemy. A Bavarian
battalion which garrisoned a blockhouse on Hill 109 offered such a
determined resistance that when the victorious French finally entered
the work they found only 200 of the garrison alive.

In the afternoon of the same day, August 11, 1916, French forces north
of the Somme took several German trenches by assault and established
their new line on the saddle to the north of Maurepas and along the
road leading from the village to Hem. A strongly fortified quarry to
the north of Hem Wood and two small woods were also occupied by the
French troops. During the course of the action in this district they
took 150 unwounded prisoners and ten machine guns.

British air squadrons numbering sixty-eight machines on August 12,
1916, bombed airship sheds at Brussels and Namur, and railway sidings
and stations at Mons, Namur, Busigny, and Courtrai. Of the British
machines engaged in these attacks, all but two returned safely. In
the evening of the same day the British forces attacked the third
German position which extended from the east of Hardecourt to the
Somme east of Buscourt. On this front of about four miles the British
infantry carried the trench and works of the Germans to a depth of
from 660 to 1,100 yards. To the northwest of Pozieres the British
gained 300 to 400 yards on a front of a mile, and also captured
trenches on the plateau northwest of Bazentin-le-Petit.

The French continued to make appreciable gains south of the Somme,
carrying portions of trenches and taking some prisoners. The new
British front to the west of Pozieres was repeatedly attacked and
bombarded by the Germans, and on August 15, 1916, they succeeded in
recapturing trenches they had lost two days before. But they were
unable to hold their gains for more than a day, when the British drove
them out and consolidated the position.

During the afternoon and evening of August 16, 1916, German and French
to the north and south of the Somme engaged in heavy bombardments. At
Verdun the German lines were forced back close to Fleury, the French
taking enemy trenches and smashing a counterattack with their
artillery.

On the afternoon of August 17, 1916, there was hard fighting along the
whole Somme front from Pozieres to the river. The British gained
ground toward Ginchy and Guillemont and took over 200 prisoners,
including some officers. During the night the Germans delivered
repeated attacks against the positions the British had captured, but
only in one instance did they succeed in winning back a little ground.

On August 18, 1916, the British continued to add to their gains,
advancing on a front of more than two miles for a distance of between
200 and 600 yards. As a result of these operations carried out along
the British front from Thiepval to their right, south of Guillemont, a
distance of eleven miles, was the gain of the ridge southeast of
Thiepval commanding the village and northern <DW72>s of the high ground
north of Pozieres. The British also held the edge of High Wood and
half a mile of captured German trenches to the west of the wood.
Advances were also made to the outskirts of the village of
Guillemont, where the British occupied the railroad station and
quarry, both of some considerable military importance. As a result of
these operations the British captured sixteen officers and 780 of
other ranks.

German guns continued to shell the British positions throughout the
day and evening of August 18, 1916, but no infantry attacks were
attempted. On the following day after a heavy bombardment the Germans
made three vigorous bombing attacks on the British positions at High
Wood, all of which were repulsed, though the Germans succeeded in some
instances in gaining a foothold for a time in the British trenches. In
the aggregate the British successes in this region had in a week
resulted in the capture of trenches which, if put end to end, would
reach for a number of miles.

On August 24, 1916, the French completed the capture of Maurepas, for
which they had been battling for nearly two weeks, after seizing the
trenches to the south of the village. Maurepas was of great military
importance, for, with Guillemont on the British front, it formed
advanced works of the stronghold of Combles. The attack was launched
at five in the evening on a front of a mile and a quarter from north
of Hardecourt to southeast of Maurepas. The French troops captured the
German portion of Maurepas at the first dash, and a little later the
strong intrenchments made by the Germans to cover the Maurepas-Combles
road were in their possession. The victory was won over some of
Germany's best troops, the Fifth Bavarian Reserve Division and the
First Division of the Prussian Guard under Prince Eitel Frederick.

On the same day, August 24, 1916, the British troops on the north of
the Somme attacked the German positions in the Maurepas region and
carried with a rush that part of the village still held by the Germans
and the adjoining trenches, taking 600 prisoners and eighteen guns.
South of the village the Germans made a violent attack on the British
position at Hill 121, but owing to the concentrated fire of artillery
which mowed them down they were unable to reach the British lines at
any point.




CHAPTER III

GERMAN COUNTERATTACKS


Throughout the week the Germans attempted repeatedly to retake the
positions that had been won from them by the French and British
troops. One of the most desperate attacks made was against the British
positions between the quarry and Guillemont. After a heavy preparatory
bombardment the Germans launched an attack that took them to the edge
of the British trenches, where a desperate hand-to-hand struggle was
made in which the Germans fought with stubbornness and determination,
but were finally repulsed with heavy losses.

The new French positions gained at Maurepas were violently attacked on
August 26, 1916, but the French artillery wrought terrible havoc among
the German troops, and they withdrew in disorder. In two days the
French took over 350 prisoners in this sector.

On the evening of August 26, 1916, the British captured several
hundred yards of German trenches north of Bazentin-le-Petit and pushed
forward some distance north of Ginchy.

After gaining a trench of 470 yards south of Thiepval and taking over
200 prisoners, the British on August 24, 1916, joined up with the
French forces on the right, where important progress was made around
Maurepas. Continued hard fighting on the eastern and northern edges of
the Delville Wood advanced the British lines several hundred yards on
each side of the Longueville-Flers road. These operations resulted in
the British capturing eight officers and about 200 of other ranks.

West of Ginchy two German companies attacked the British trenches and
were driven off by machine-gun fire. Bombardment of British positions
continued during the night. Two aeroplane raids carried out by the
British airmen damaged trains on the German line of communications.
Important military points were also bombed with some success, but in
encounters with German aircraft the British lost one machine.

The importance of the Thiepval sector to the Germans was demonstrated
in their constant efforts to regain the positions there that had been
captured by the British. A great number of guns were concentrated by
the Germans in this sector. The bombardment which preceded the attack
was of unusual violence, but owing to the intrepid spirit of the men
from Wiltshire and Worcestershire, who defended the positions, the
Germans were unable to reach the trenches and withdrew in disorder.
According to an eyewitness of this attack, the first wave of German
soldiers advancing to attack was thrown in disorder by the intense
gunfire from the British positions. A second wave of men
started--swept a little