WAR OF THE NATIONS 



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WAR OF THE NATIONS 



the entire war. Goritz, an important city, was 

 the center of an extensive territory taken from 

 Austria, and Italian lines reached within ten 

 miles of the fine seaport, Trieste. 



At this critical juncture, when Austria-Hun- 

 gary was despairing of the present and dread- 

 ing the future, Germany was urged to come to 

 its assistance. The desperate situation was 

 recognized, and several army corps and many 

 large guns were quickly transferred from the 

 paralyzed Russian front. With this formidable 

 reenforcement, and by intrigue which under- 

 mined Italian morale, the Austro-German at- 

 tack which followed won from Italy in three 

 days 1,000 square miles of territory more than 

 it had gained in several months of courageous 

 fighting. Italy vainly tried to check the in- 

 vasion at the Tagliamento River, but failed, 

 and its armies retreated slowly to the Piave 

 River, where they chose to stand and face the 

 powerful foe. Italian bravery, and the moun- 

 tain territory, halted the Germans. 



Alarmed at the development, England and 

 France hastened to give aid to their ally before 

 the enemy, by using overwhelming numbers of 

 troops, should dispose of the Italian armies 

 and threaten disaster to the allied cause. Be- 

 fore December heavy reinforcements arrived 

 from the western front, and the foe was halted. 



The War in Asia. A British expeditionary 

 force appeared near the end of 1915 north of 

 the Persian Gulf. Its objective was Bagdad, 

 the most important point on the new Euphra- 

 tes Valley, or Bagdad, Railway. In November 

 it successfully attacked the Turks south of 

 Bagdad; in December it was defeated by them 

 and driven into Kut-el-Amara, where it was 

 surrounded and besieged. On April 29, 1916, 

 because of threatened starvation, the entire 

 force of 10,000 men and officers surrendered. 



This was a severe blow to British prestige, but 

 another force, which had attempted to relieve 

 the first, succeeded in the next year in captur- 

 ing Bagdad and penetrating north of the city. 



THE WAR IN ASIA 



After the surrender of an English force at Kut- 

 el-Amara another British force captured Bagdad 

 and made its way towards Jerusalem. 



With characteristic British determination the 

 army of England in Asia continued its task of 

 lessening the territory and the influence of the 

 central powers in the realm of the sultan. By 

 December 1, 1917, it had fought its way to 

 within three miles of Jerusalem, and on the 

 10th it captured that "cradle of the Christian 

 world." 



The Greek King Abdicates. The situation in 

 Greece remained tense and critical during the 

 first half of 1917. On the 12th of June King 

 Constantine, no longer trusted by the allies, 

 was forced to abdicate, and the throne was 

 given to his second son Alexander, for at least 

 the period of the war. Alexander favored the 

 allied cause; he recalled Venizelos to power as 

 Prime Minister, and thereafter Greece was con- 

 sidered an addition to the allied nations. For- 

 mer King Constantine went to Switzerland. 



Events on Land in 1918 



After a winter without operations on a major 

 scale the Germans announced an offensive cam- 

 paign which by weight of numbers of men and 

 guns should crush the enemy on the western 

 front. The objects to be attained were to 

 separate the French and British armies, then 

 to attack the British and completely destroy 

 their effectiveness, after which the French were 

 to be forced to abandon the struggle. Field 

 Marshal Hindenburg promised the German peo- 

 ple that he would be in Paris by April 1. 



Germany's Great Offensive. The great attack 

 began on March 21, 1918, on a front of fifty- 



one miles, extending from Ypres southward. 

 Such pressure was never before exerted by an 

 attacking force in all the history of the world, 

 and never before was the loss of human life so 

 great. In the first twenty-four hours the Ger- 

 mans reported officially that they used more 

 high-explosive shells than were employed in the 

 entire Franco-German War of 1870-1871. The 

 allied armies could not stand against such 

 storms of death and pressure of advancing foes, 

 and they slowly retreated for ten days, fighting 

 tenaciously and inflicting tremendous losses 

 upon the enemy; their own losses were heavy. 



