WWI 2: The Protracted War and the Pursuit of a
Temporary Peace
Gentlemen of the Congress:
Once more, as repeatedly before, the spokesmen of the Central Empires have indicated
their desire to discuss the objects of the war and the possible basis of a general peace.
Parleys have been in progress at Brest-Litovsk between Russsian representatives and
representatives of the Central Powers to which the attention of all the belligerents have
been invited for the purpose of ascertaining whether it may be possible to extend these
parleys into a general conference with regard to terms of peace and settlement. The
Russian representatives presented not only a perfectly definite statement of the
principles upon which they would be willing to conclude peace but also an equally
definite program of the concrete application of those principles. The representatives of
the Central Powers, on their part, presented an outline of settlement which, if much
less definite, seemed susceptible of liberal interpretation until their specific program of
practical terms was added. That program proposed no concessions at all either to the
sovereignty of Russia or to the preferences of the populations with whose fortunes it
dealt, but meant, in a word, that the Central Empires were to keep every foot of
territory their armed forces had occupied -- every province, every city, every point of
vantage -- as a permanent addition to their territories and their power. It is a
reasonable conjecture that the general principles of settlement which they at first
suggested originated with the more liberal statesmen of Germany and Austria, the men
who have begun to feel the force of their own people's thought and purpose, while the
concrete terms of actual settlement came from the military leaders who have no
thought but to keep what they have got. The negotiations have been broken off. The
Russian representatives were sincere and in earnest. They cannot entertain such
proposals of conquest and domination. The whole incident is full of significances. It is
also full of perplexity. With whom are the Russian representatives dealing? For whom
are the representatives of the Central Empires speaking? Are they speaking for the
majorities of their respective parliaments or for the minority parties, that military and
imperialistic minority which has so far dominated their whole policy and controlled the
affairs of Turkey and of the Balkan states which have felt obliged to become their
associates in this war? The Russian representatives have insisted, very justly, very
wisely, and in the true spirit of modern democracy, that the conferences they have been
holding with the Teutonic and Turkish statesmen should be held within open, not
closed, doors, and all the world has been audience, as was desired. To whom have we
been listening, then? To those who speak the spirit and intention of the resolutions of
the German Reichstag of the 9th of July last, the spirit and intention of the Liberal
leaders and parties of Germany, or to those who resist and defy that spirit and intention
and insist upon conquest and subjugation? Or are we listening, in fact, to both,
unreconciled and in open and hopeless contradiction? These are very serious and
pregnant questions. Upon the answer to them depends the peace of the world. But,
whatever the results of the parleys at Brest-Litovsk, whatever the confusions of counsel
and of purpose in the utterances of the spokesmen of the Central Empires, they have
again attempted to acquaint the world with their objects in the war and have again
challenged their adversaries to say what their objects are and what sort of settlement
they would deem just and satisfactory. There is no good reason why that challenge
should not be responded to, and responded to with the utmost candor. We did not wait
for it. Not once, but again and again, we have laid our whole thought and purpose
before the world, not in general terms only, but each time with sufficient definition to
make it clear what sort of definite terms of settlement must necessarily spring out of
them. Within the last week Mr. Lloyd George has spoken with admirable candor and in
admirable spirit for the people and Government of Great Britain. There is no
confusion of counsel among the adversaries of the Central Powers, no uncertainty of
principle, no vagueness of detail. The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless
frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war, lies with
Germany and her allies. The issues of life and death hang upon these definitions. No
statesman who has the least conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to
permit himself to continue this tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and treasure
unless he is sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are part
and parcel of the very life of Society and that the people for whom he speaks think
them right and imperative as he does. There is, moreover, a voice calling for these
definitions of principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and
more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled air of
the world is filled. It is the voice of the Russian people. They are prostrate and all but
hopeless, it would seem, before the grim power of Germany, which has hitherto known
no relenting and no pity. Their power, apparently, is shattered. And yet their soul is not
subservient. They will not yield either in principle or in action. Their conception of
what is right, of what is humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated
with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit, and a universal human
sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every friend of mankind; and they
have refused to compound their ideals or desert others that they themselves may be
safe.
They call to us to say what it is that we desire, in what, if in anything, our purpose and
our spirit differ from theirs; and I believe that the people of the United States would
wish me to respond, with utter simplicity and frankness. Whether their present leaders
believe it or not, it is our heartfelt desire and hope that some way may be opened
whereby we may be privileged to assist the people of Russia to attain their utmost hope
of liberty and ordered peace.
It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall
be absolutely open and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret
understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is
also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments
and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world. It is this happy
fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an
age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are
consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow nor or at any other time the
objects it has in view. We entered this war because violations of right had occurred
which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless
they were corrected and the world secure once for all against their recurrence. What
we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world
be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peaceloving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own
institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as
against force and selfish aggression. All the peoples of the world are in effect partners
in this interest, and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to
others it will not be done to us. The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our
program; and that program, the only possible program, as we see it, is this:
I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private
international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly
and in the public view.
II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in
peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international
action for the enforcement of international covenants.
III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of
an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and
associating themselves for its maintenance.
IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to
the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,
based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions
of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with
the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions
affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of
the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the
independent determination of her own political development and national policy and
assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of
her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she
may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations
in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of
her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and
unselfish sympathy.
VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any
attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations.
No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations
in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their
relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of
international law is forever impaired.
VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the
wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has
unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that
peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.
IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly
recognizable lines of nationality.
X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see
safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous
development.
XI. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories
restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the
several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically
established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the
political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan
states should be entered into.
XII. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure
sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be
assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of
autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free
passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.
XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the
territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free
and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and
territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.
XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the
purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial
integrity to great and small states alike.
In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and assertions of right we feel
ourselves to be intimate partners of all the governments and peoples associated
together against the Imperialists. We cannot be separated in interest or divided in
purpose. We stand together until the end. For such arrangements and covenants we
are willing to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because
we wish the right to prevail and desire a just and stable peace such as can be secured
only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this program does remove. We
have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that
impairs it. We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific
enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable. We do not wish
to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish
to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade if she is willing to
associate herself with us and the other peace- loving nations of the world in covenants
of justice and law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality
among the peoples of the world, -- the new world in which we now live, -- instead of a
place of mastery. Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or
modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must frankly say, and necessary
as a preliminary to any intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should know
whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag
majority or for the military party and the men whose creed is imperial domination. We
have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to admit of any further doubt or
question. An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is
the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal
terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak. Unless
this principle be made its foundation no part of the structure of international justice
can stand. The people of the United States could act upon no other principle; and to
the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives, their honor, and
everything they possess. The moral climax of this the culminating and final war for
human liberty has come, and they are ready to put their own strength, their own
highest purpose, their own integrity and devotion to the test.
President Woodrow Wilson to a Joint Session of Congress: January 8, 1918
1) The almost unbearable sense of FEAR and
INEVITABILITY of war found its resolution in the socalled JULY CRISIS of 1914. On June 28th, Franz
Ferdinand, next in line to succeed Franz Josef and thus
HEIR to the Habsburg throne, was in Sarajevo (BosniaHerzegovina) with his wife making what was essentially a
MILITARY INSPECTION. He was the target of TWO
assassination attempts. First, a BOMB was thrown under
his carriage. It failed to explode, and surprisingly he
moved forward with the day’s events including delivering
a speech. On the way out of the city, a WRONG TURN
was taken putting the archduke and his wife within
PISTOL range of BLACK HAND member GAVRILO
PRINCEP who shot both Franz Ferdinand and his wife
SOPHIE to death. The reason why Franz Ferdinand was
such a DANGEROUS threat to Serbian Nationalism and
thus a target of this CONSPIRACY was that he
supported the idea of a COMPROMISE: that is, having
an autonomous South-Slav state WITHIN the Habsburg
Empire.
2) The assassination generated much SYMPATHY for the
Habsburg Empire because of the PRECEDENT it
established for a terrorist state (i.e., SERBIA) using
terrorism as a weapon of diplomacy. This was the
proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, and the sense
rapidly emerged among the Habsburgs that, with
international will on their side, the time had come to settle
the Serbian issue once and for all through force of arms.
And so, on July 4, 1914 a delegation traveled from
VIENNA to BERLIN to confer with the German High
Command. This resulted in the issuing by the Germans to
the Austrians of the so-called BLANK CHECK, meaning
obviously that Austria had Germany’s MILITARY
support to act to resolve the Serbian issue in whatever
manner it determined to be appropriate.
UNFORTUNATELY, this delegation ma have already
been extremely LIMITED with regard to the options that
it could pursue, since it consisted EXCLUSIVELY of
those in the Habsburg monarchy who favored WAR to
resolve the Serbian/SOUTH SLAV issue. And so, the
makeup of this delegation FAILED to provide an
opportunity for alternative voices with regard to this
issue to be heard.
3) Representing the Entente Cordiale, RUSSIA and
FRANCE were likewise collaborating over this issue, and
the French diplomat Poincare in St. Petersburg in late
July issued the Russians the same blank check that
Germany had issued Austria, and so the ALLIANCE
SYSTEMS for this great conflict were beginning to fall
into place. And so, on July 23, 1914, the Austrian
Habsburgs issued an ULTIMATUM to SERBIA to be
accepted within 48 hours, the main condition of which
was that Austrian officials were to be permitted to go to
Serbia to conduct their own thorough investigation into the
assassination of archduke Francis Ferdinand. The Serbs
viewed this condition as an absolute violation of their
SOVERIEGNTY, and thus, supported by Russia, began
the process of the MOBILIZATION of their troops. On
July 28th, supported by Germany, Austria began to
mobilize its troops and declared WAR on Serbia. On July
30th, Russia then ordered a FULL mobilization which was
a declaration of WAR.
4) Given the constraints imposed by the SCHLIEFFEN
PLAN, Germany issued an ultimatum to St. Petersburg
insisting that the Russians RECIND mobilization within
12 hours, which of course would be IMPOSSIBLE—War
upon Russian mobilization thus became INEVITABLE.
The fear of the German High Command was that
politically Germany would continue NEGOTIATING
with Russia while Russia and NOT Germany mobilized;
under such circumstances it would be impossible for
Germany to quickly attack and defeat FRANCE and then
swing around and attack Russia since the successful
execution of the Schlieffen Plan depended on Russia NOT
being mobilized when Germany declared war. And so,
the Schlieffen Plan would be entirely neutralized if Russia
continued to mobilize while all Germany did was
NEGOTIATE. Austria sensed the impending crisis and
itself mobilized on the SAME DAY (July 31, 1914) that
Germany issued its ultimatum.
5) BELGIAN neutrality had been guaranteed by all
European nations since 1839, and so when the Germans
approached Belgium with a request that German troops
be permitted to move through Belgian territory to attack
FRANCE, the obvious question was what would England
do? The German chancellor believed that that England
WOULD NOT go to war over the violation of Belgium’s
borders, arguing that the neutrality treaty with Britain
was little more than a scrap of paper. And yet, on July 31st,
Britain clearly stated that it would HONOR its treaty
obligations with Belgium, and also indicated that it would
guarantee the NEUTRALITY of FRANCE is Germany
did not attack in the WEST. By this time, the British
understanding of the ENTENTE CORDIALE had
developed to understand that every military plan for their
INTERVENTION in a continental WAR was inextricably
linked to the military operations of France (e.g., from a
NAVAL standpoint France would protect the
Mediterranean Sea while Britain would protect the North
Sea). And so, any POLITICAL solution was severely
CONSTRAINED by military planning.
6) Following the mobilization of Austria, on August 1, 1914,
Russia rejected the ULTIMATUM and FRANCE
declared a general mobilization. Germany then declared
WAR on Russia on August 1, WAR on France on August
3rd and WAR on ENGLAND on August 4th. The collapse
of Bismarck’s System, the subsequent pursuit of Kaiser
Wilhem’s weltpolitik by the Germans, BALTIC
NATIONALISM, the collapse of the OTTOMAN and
HABSBURG Empires, and the sense that wars were
ISOLATED, SHORT, DECISIVE glamorous conflicts
lasting only a period of weeks or months at most had
converged at this epochal moment in time. The time had
come to UNLEASH nationalism to insure that state’s
agendas were met; there were no other ALTERNATIVES
to do this other than to engage in war. This all
contributed to an amazing sense of EUPORIA when war
broke, leading to cheering in PARIS, BERLIN, and
elsewhere.
7) And so, the War to End All Wars (also called the GREAT
WAR prior to World War II) began in 1914 with full
anticipation by all sides that the soldiers would be home
by CHRISTMAS. The ALLIANCES performed as
expected, with the consequence that in August 1914
GERMANY enacted the SCHLIEFFEN PLAN, sending
troops through BELGIUM into FRANCE. By the time
the German assault slowed approximately 25 miles from
PARIS, the overall casualty figure already exceeded
500,000. The Russians had MOBILIZED in a
miraculously short period of time, and by late
August/early September had smashed into western
PRUSSIA, which prompted the Germans to transfer a
large number of soldiers back east which, in September,
resulted in the HALTING of the German offensive into
France. ENGLAND responded to the continental crisis by
sending a large number of troops into France; these were
almost all LOST as the Germans tried vainly to capture
Paris by trying to outflank the allied forces in the socalled March to the Sea.
8) The Russian OFFENSIVE into Prussia was halted under
the command of Field Marshall Paul von HINDENBURG
who captures nearly 100,000 of the enemy in the process.
However, despite the fact that there was an ALLIANCE
between PRUSSIA and AUSTRIA since 1879, unlike
FRANCE and BRITAIN they had FAILED to coordinate
their military plans with each other. Numerous battles
raged between the alliances with BRUTAL casualty
figures numbering into the hundreds of thousands. By
late 1914/early 1915, the armies had hunkered down in
TRENCHES and, especially around CHRISTMAS,
alternated lobbing shells at each other with
FRATERNIZATION, included casual parties and even a
SOCCER GAME. Nevertheless, if they survived, it would
be many years before they once again saw HOME.
9) ITALY, having territorial aspirations in NORTHERN
AFRICA, entered the war not as an ally of Germany but
rather with the ENTENTE powers since they hoped to
capitalize on the FRENCH colonial presence there.
BULGARIA and TURKEY entered the war in 1915 allied
with the CENTRAL powers (GERMANY and AUSTRIA)
against the SERBS, with the years 1915-1916 seeing the
full establishment of TRENCH WARFARE on virtually
every European front. Hundreds—if not thousands—of
lives would be sacrificed for a few worthless yards of feet
of territory, and so there were no great CHARGES or
ADVANCES as there had been during previous wars.
War became DEFENSIVE. The Germans tried to break
this stalemate with the Siege of Verdun (February 21,
1916) a major French fortress, battle which in reality
lasted into 1917. The French line could NOT be broken,
leading to the initiation of the next objective which was to
bleed the French white. And yet, despite 1,500,000 overall
casualties and some French MUTINIES, the French
HELD. The area still bears its battle scars today.
10)
Another great battle was on its way, as BRITISH
commander Sir Douglas Hague was planning a MAJOR
ASSAULT on the Somme in the West, which began with
the raining down of over 1,000,00 shells on German
trenches in preparation for an INFANTRY assault. On
July 1, 1917, 11 British divisions (110,000 troops) began
walking across the front, and became CANNON
FODDER for the machine guns and mortars that the
Germans had hidden deep within their bunkers. For the
British, there were 60,000 casualties among these
divisions, many of the wounded of which remained on the
battlefield for days screaming in agony. This campaign
lasted for approximately 12 weeks, resulting in a gain of
six WORTHLESS miles for the British, and on all sides
the total casualty rate exceeded 1,000,000. Arguably, the
battles of Verdun and the Somme ended the 19th century,
given the magnitude of the casualties and the type of
warfare entirely absent of CHIVALRY: face-to-face
combat was replaced by massive SLAUGHTER carried
out at a great distance—the world had yet to see its like.
11)
RUSSIA launched a major offensive in the east,
capturing 200K AUSTRIAN soldiers, thus inflicting
severe losses on the HABSBURG monarchy, although by
the end of 1915 the Russians themselves had lost nearly
3,000,000 men. POISON GAS was used, and offensives
that resulted in tens of thousands of casualties in
exchange for several hundred or perhaps a few thousand
YARDS, including one episode in which the English
TUNNELED under the German lines, planted over
1,000,000 lbs of explosives in twenty one shafts, and blew
them up early one morning, immediately KILLING
10,000 Germans, but yet losing 16,000 of their own troops
in the subsequent battle with the remaining German
forces. The war quickly deteriorated into one of
ATTRITION, and it began to seem as though no one
knew how to end it or when it would end—one quote that
surfaced during this time was that the war had won, and
the war would keep on winning.
12)
New innovations that kept the war at a virtual
stalemate and increased the carnage on all sides included
the TANK, heavy artillery for bombardment, the
MACHINE GUN, and POISON GAS. Shelling the
enemy’s line was carried on RELENTLESSLY, with the
barrage being walked towards the target so that the shells
exploded directly IN the trenches and so the only way to
protect oneself was to dig deeper. Shellings would expose
bodies that had been dead for weeks and months and
huge RATS roamed the trenches feeding on bodies and
limbs. LICE and TRENCH ROT plagued these forces as
it was impossible to keep DRY because of high water
tables—the FRONT could be smelled from miles away.
13)
During the first few months of 1917, the
ROMONOV dynasty fell in Russia, and the Germans,
hoping to bring a quick DIPLOMATIC end to the war
with Russia, transported a group of RADICAL
LIBERALS living in Switzerland—including VLADIMIR
LENIN—into Russia to help ferment radical revolution,
which they did based on Russian FATIGUE with the war
and hunger. This Bolshevik platform succeeded in
gaining power in November 1917, and in March 1918
signed a separate treaty (The Treaty of BRESTLITOVSK) that ended Russian hostilities with
GERMANY. This was obviously a Russian DEFEAT, and
so Germany had won the war in the EAST. In the South
and the West, both the FRENCH and the ITALIANS
were close to being crushed (i.e., both were being bled
white) thus prompting much OPTIMISM in Germany for
the ending of the war. However, these successes had to be
balanced against the negatives, including the November
21st 1916 death of FRANZ JOSEF, the Habsburg
emperor, after which the Habsburg Empire began to
COLLAPSE. Further, German troops could NOT be
relocated from the east despite the defeat of Russia, since
the goal of BOLSHEVISM was WORLD REVOLUTION
that had to begin in Germany. And so, despite its defeat,
Russia remained a THREAT to the German war effort.
14)
A volume in my personal collection possesses the
following inscription: To L. A, Coolidge with charming
memories of the Beacon Society,(signed) Elbert Hubbard
February 8th, 1915. This is significant because, less than
three months later on May 7, 1915, Hubbard, a
distinguished American PHILOSOPHER and founder of
the Roycroft Press, DIED on the LUSITANIA when it
was torpedoed by a German U-Boat off the south coast of
IRELAND. Not that the passengers, upon disembarking
from New York, didn’t have warning that Germany was
conducting UNRESTRICTED submarine warfare in the
North Atlantic: note the warning issued (April 22, 1915)
by the German Embassy in Washington and printed
along with the newspaper advertisement for Lusitania’s
trip: NOTICE: TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the
Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists
between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her
allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to
the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice
given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying
the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to
destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the
war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at
their own risk. 128 of the 197 Americans aboard DIED
(1198 total deaths of a total passenger manifest of 1257),
thus provoking OUTRAGE, although the rationale for
sinking the ship may likely have been that it was
COVERTLY transporting MUNITIONS to the allied
powers. However, its sinking and the loss of AMERICAN
LIVES certainly contributed to America’s entry in the
war on the side of the ALLIED powers. Published in
1935, here is a translation of the U-Boat commander’s
(Schweiger) narration of the sinking: Ahead and to
starboard four funnels and two masts of a steamer with
course perpendicular to us come into sight (coming from
SSW it steered toward Galley Head). Ship is made out to be
large passenger steamer. [We] submerged to a depth of
eleven meters and went ahead at full speed, taking a course
converging with the one of the steamer, hoping it might
change its course to starboard along the Irish coast. The
steamer turns to starboard, takes course to Queenstown
thus making possible an approach for a shot. Until 3 P. M.
we ran at high speed in order to gain position directly
ahead. Clean bow shot at a distance of 700 meters (Gtorpedo, three meters depth adjustment); angle 90°,
estimated speed twenty-two knots. Torpedo hits starboard
side right behind the bridge. An unusually heavy explosion
takes place with a very strong explosion cloud (cloud
reaches far beyond front funnel). The explosion of the
torpedo must have been followed by a second one (boiler or
coal or powder?). The superstructure right above the point
of impact and the bridge are torn asunder, fire breaks out,
and smoke envelops the high bridge. The ship stops
immediately and heels over to starboard very quickly,
immersing simultaneously at the bow. It appears as if the
ship were going to capsize very shortly. Great confusion
ensues on board; the boats are made clear and some of
them are lowered to the water. In doing so great confusion
must have reigned; some boats, full to capacity, are
lowered, rushed from above, touch the water with either
stem or stern first and founder immediately. On the port
side fewer boats are made clear than on the starboard side
on account of the ships list. The ship blows off [steam];
painted black, no flag was set astern. Ship was running
twenty knots. Since it seems as if the steamer will keep
above water only a short time, we dived to a depth of twentyfour meters and ran out to sea. It would have been
impossible for me, anyhow, to fire a second torpedo into
this crowd of people struggling to save their lives.
Schweiger himself died in 1917 when his submarine
struck a mine.
15)
Finally forsaking its ISOLATIONIST stance, the
UNITED STATES entered the conflict by declaring war
on GERMANY on April 6, 1917 mostly as a consequence
of the so-called ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM, which,
decoded by the British on its way to MEXICO,
announced Germany’s intention to resume
UNRESTRICTED submarine warfare and asked Mexico
to INVADE the southern United States in an attempt to
prevent the United States from entering the European
war. And yet, as late as March 29, 1917, Herr von
Betmann Hollweg, the German Imperial Chancellor, was
trying to avert the American entry, stating the following
before the REICHSTAG: In a few days the representatives
of the American people meet to decide on the question of
war or peace with the German people. Germany has never
had the smallest intention of attacking America, and has
none today. Germany has never desired war with America,
nor has she any desire for war today. We have more than
once told the United States that we renounced the
unrestricted use of submarine warfare in the expectation
that England would be brought to observe in her blockade
policy the laws of humanity and international agreements.
England has not only maintained, but has continually
intensified, her illegal and indefensible blockade policy. She
has, in common with her allies, scornfully rejected our
peace offer, and announced war aims which amount to the
annihilation of ourselves and our allies. For this reason we
resorted to unrestricted submarine warfare; for this reason
we were forced to resort to it. Does the American people see
in this any reason for declaring war on the German people,
with which it has lived in peace for more than 100 years? It
is not we who bear the responsibility for such a result (The
Times History of the War, volume 15, p. 293).
16)
The entry of the United States on the side of the
ENTENTE powers was extremely critical from the
standpoint of bolstering ENGLISH and FRENCH morale
and contributed significantly to the end of the war in
1918. Subsequent to the signing of the Treaty of BrestLitovsk with BOLSHEVICK RUSSIA, the Germans
launched their last WESTERN offensive which was
designed to subjugate the British and French before the
potentially DECISIVE arrival of AMERICAN troops. It
was extremely COSTLY to the ENTENTE, but, just as
was the case with every German offensive during the war,
FAILED before it could deliver the knockout punch. The
Americans arrived, and in July, 1918, the Entente powers
began a massive counteroffensive, severely compromising
the German lines by AUGUST 1918. By September 1918,
HORRIFIC German casualties forced the High
Command to re-evaluate continuing the war; this despite
the fact that German forces remained DEEP within
France, occupied BELGIUM entirely, and had essentially
WON the war against RUSSIA in the east.
17)
And so, the German government sued for an
immediate ARMISTACE based on the ear that the
FRONT would collapse at any moment and result in the
entente rushing to BERLIN. German diplomats then
communicated that it would be willing to negotiate an
armistice based on Woodrow Wilson’s FOURTEEN
POINTS as outlined in this handout caption. The
overture was made to AMERICA as it was obvious to
Germany that neither FRANCE nor ENGLAND would
be receptive to this offer without a demand for
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, BUT Wilson
REFUSED to negotiate. The result was the November
1918 REVOLUTION in Germany during which Kaiser
Wilhelm abdicated and a German REPUBLIC
subsequently declared which agreed to sign an armistice.
And so, on November 11, 1914, in a small railroad car
north of Paris, the armistice was signed. The war was
over, and a new Europe MINUS the HABSBURGS,
HOHENZOLLERNS, and ROMONOVS was about to
begin.