WAR OF THE NATIONS 



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WAR OF THE NATIONS 



Austria thought Russia did not mean what it 

 said and that it would not dare to attack the 

 strong central powers; Austria well knew that 

 if Russia adhered to its threat all Europe would 

 be plunged into war, and it appeared incred- 

 ible that any nation would deliberately force a 

 conflict so tremendous. The Russian attitude 

 affected France and England, as members of 

 the Triple Entente. Germany announced itself 

 in favor of localizing the dispute which meant 

 to permit Austria-Hungary to punish Serbia 

 and exact from that country what it pi 

 the result would inevitably strengthen tl 

 tel Europa propaganda. At all events, Ger- 

 many would support its ally. Italy announced 

 that it would remain neutral; its relation to 

 the Triple Alliance did not obligate it to join 



in any action unless a member of the alliance 

 was attacked, and Italians would not join in a 

 war of aggression. 



The Russian mobilization was a direct threat 

 at Austria-Hungary, and in support of its ally 

 Germany promptly declared war upon Russia. 

 England agreed to remain out of the conflict 

 on condition that Germany did not seek to 

 humiliate France and that the neutrality of 

 Belgium should be respected. 



Turkey felt kindly towards Germany; Ger- 

 man officers had long drilled the armies of Tur- 

 ..1 German influence was stronger in that 

 country than that of any other power. More- 

 over, Turkey saw an opportunity, with strong 

 assistance, to regain lost territory from its old 

 enemy, Russia. 



First Weeks of the Conflict 



With the beginning of hostilities the world 

 was amazed at the thorough preparedness of 

 the German Empire to strike a mighty blow. 

 From the day the first troops moved it was ap- 

 parent that the announced cause of the war was 

 to be a negligible factor. The German em- 

 peror, in command of the most powerful army 

 the world ever saw, became at once the domi- 

 nant figure in Europe. As later developed, but 

 not known at the time, it was the purpose of 

 the kaiser to humble France within a period of 

 a month or less, then turn sharply and defeat 

 Russia. With those two powers reduced, it 

 would next turn its attention to England. In 

 the south -tance the Balkan * 



offered was to be speedily overcome and a clear 

 road opened into Asia (a feat that was accom- 

 plished within two years). 



As soon as it was seen that war was inevi- 

 table France moved 200,000 men to its ea> 

 frontier, \\li- :< they took positions six miles 

 from the border, below the Belgium and Lux- 

 emburg lines. The only objective at which it 

 could strike was Alsace-Lorraine, the most 

 westerly German territory. No one knew 

 v planned to strike, and its pow- 

 erful blow fell in an unexpected quarter. Dis- 

 patches reported miles upon miles of men clad 

 in gray-green, marching west a con- 

 stream day after day so vast as to be IK 

 lievable. The Gorman chiefs sought from Bel- 

 gium freedom to pass through the kingdom on 

 the shortest route to France and Paris. 

 German government promised reparation after 

 the war for any damage which might be in- 

 flicted in a peaceful 



Belgium's Position. Three times had the 

 powers of Europe signed treaties guaranteeing 

 the safety and neutrality of Belgium. In 1815 

 that country was given to Holland by the 

 Congress of Vienna, from which relation r 

 volted in 1830 and secured its independence. In 

 1831 Great Britain, France, Prussia and Russia 

 guaranteed its independence and neutrality. 

 In 1839 Holland finally accepted Belgium's 

 separate existence, and the treaty of 1831 was 

 replaced 1-y another of the same tenor. In 

 1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-German 

 War. it was feared that Belgium might be 

 forced into the conflict against its will, as its 

 position between the two warring powers ex- 

 posed it to attack. Great Britain succeeded in 

 negotiating separate treaties with Germany 

 and France by which the British government 

 agreed that if either of the warring powers 

 should violate Belgian neutrality the other 

 would have Britain's help in defense of the 

 treaty of 1839. 



"Necessity," the Plea of Germany. "Brlnium 

 is a nation, not a road." King Albert is declared 



to have | 1 the 



German demand for free passage nee; 



it could not do otherwise without being false to 



i and to the spirit and letter of its neu- 



v Germany ? o the treaty as "a 



scrap of paper/' and hurled its legions upon 



inn soil. At midnight on the dny Gern 

 invaded Belgium, August 4. Enr : ircd 



war on the former country. Only 200,000 sol- 

 diers could Belgium oppose to Germany's flood 

 of men, but for two weeks it held back that 

 floodand those two weeks disrupted e 



