factors in the encounters that occurred from July 18, 1918, to the end in November. It was our good fortune that we were in a position to render this deciding service to liberal government. We have a right to look upon our efforts as the last blows that put the suffering and far-spent German autocracy out of the contest.

Five Fleets.

THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR

During the war the ships of the navy were divided into five fleets: The Atlantic Fleet, a home fleet then composed of some of the older type battleships and cruisers, to take the place of the newest ships, which had been ordered to service in European waters. It was under the command of Admiral H. T. Mayo and was expected to meet any emergency that might arise in home waters. The Coast Patrol, under Captain H. B. Wilson, consisting of small vessels, was assigned to duty along the Atlantic coast from Brazil to Newfoundland. The Pacific Fleet, under Admiral W. B. Caperton, and the Asiatic Fleet, under Admiral A. M. Knight, both of which had been deprived of some of their best ships for service elsewhere. The European Fleet, under Admiral W. S. Sims, consisting of the battleships that served with the Allied Grand Fleet in the North Sea, as well as of the destroyers and other ships that guarded the ocean lanes against submarines and protected the ports to which the American transports and supply ships were sent. Of these fleets the last took the most prominent part in the war.

town.

The first work of the navy in European waters was undertaken in response to a call for destroyers immediately after we entered the Destroyers war. A small squadron of these vessels was dispatched off Queens- and reported for duty at Queenstown, Ireland, on May 4. They were assigned to service on the lanes of traffic to protect shipping against submarines. In 1916 a three years' program of construction had been authorized for the navy. It embraced the construction of battleships, heavy cruisers, and various other kinds. of vessels. As soon as we entered the war the work on the heavier ships was suspended and all possible energy was given to the construction of destroyers, and other small boats that could be used against submarines. By the end of 1917 new destroyers were being finished, and as fast as ready for the sea they were added to the squadron serving in Europe. It is impossible to determine the precise effect of our coöperation in this phase of the struggle; but it is known that the destruction of allied shipping was at the most dangerous rate early in May, 1917, and that it fell steadily from that time. By the end of the year it began to be under control and the authorities recovered their confidence in the situation. Had it continued at the April rate the British Isles would have been starved into surrender. Convoying troops and supplies was another work in which the

THE SERVICES OF THE NAVY

897

navy took most efficient part. When the United States troops began to be sent across the ocean no one was bold enough to say that the crossing could be made without great loss of life from the Convoying submarines. To the surprise of all no transport was sunk Transports. going over to France, and of the three that were destroyed all were returning to the United States when they went down. It was through the advice of Admiral Sims that the British finally consented to organize their merchantmen into fleets sailing at specified times and escorted by warships, a precaution that reduced the losses materially. The cruising service of the United States navy in American waters released ships of the British and French navies for service against the submarines nearer home. It also made it possible to utilize in the Grand Fleet in the North Sea British destroyers that had been in the convoy service. The navy of the United States has the reputation. of being ready for service whenever called upon. In the World War it fully met the expectation of the public.

In December, 1917, a squadron of the newest battleships of the navy went to Europe under Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, to serve as the sixth battle squadron of the Grand Fleet of the allies. Rodman's It was assigned to one of the two "fast wings" of the Fleet, Battleso that in action it would either lead the van or protect ships.

the rear. The strategy of Admiral Beatty, commanding the Grand Fleet, was to get the German fleet out of its harbor and fight it to a finish. But he was not able to carry out such a design. The Germans were too cautious to risk their one naval hope on the issue of a battle. One of the lessons of the war that is not discussed as frequently as its importance warrants is the efficiency displayed by the submarine mines as instruments of protection in waters adjacent Submarine to land. By this means the Germans held their opponents Mines. at safe distances from the Kiel Canal and Heligoland, and thus demonstrated the value of mines for coast defense. Mines were also strewn in channels and other waters frequented by shipping with disastrous results. The most striking use of mines was in planting a mine barrage across the North Sea, between Scotland and Norway, a distance of 230 miles. The project was suggested by an American officer, and it was carried out with British and American coöperation. It involved the development of a special type of mine. The United States shipped 85,000 mines abroad during the period of their participation in the war, of which more than 50,000 were laid. It is believed that at least ten submarines were destroyed at the North Sea mine-barrage.

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

December 15, 1917, the Bolshevist government at Brest-Litovsk signed an armistice with Germany. Seeking to justify Russia for

Peace

deserting her former allies it called on them to state the terms on which they would make peace. Lloyd George, fearing the action of the Bolshevists would affect the loyalty of British labor, Terms, Dec. announced on January 5, 1918, some of the terms for 15, 1917. which Great Britain would stand, as the evacuation and restoration of Belgium, the surrender of Alsace-Lorraine, and the disposition of the German colonies in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants.

The

"Fourteen

Continuing in the same spirit President Wilson, in addressing congress January 8, 1918, set forth his celebrated fourteen points, on which he said that peace could be made with the central allies. They included open diplomacy, freedom of the Points " seas, removal of economic barriers, disarmament, equitable disposition of the colonies, the restoration of Belgium, the restoration of devastated France, the surrender of Alsace-Lorraine, the readjustment of Italian boundaries along the lines of nationality, an independent Poland, and the organization of "a general association of nations to afford "mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small States alike." In later speeches the president amplified his Fourteen Points to some extent, but that series of demands remained the most comprehensive expression of war demands made by any of the belligerents opposed to Germany.

Front.

In September, 1918, the Germans were meeting daily reverses in France, and Turkey was rapidly losing her hold on Syria. SeptemBreaking ber 15 the allied troops broke the Saloniki front and the Eastern began a rapid advance which had the effect of forcing Bulgaria to sign an armistice on the 29th. With Constantinople exposed on the north it was to be expected that Turkey would surrender as soon as her opponents had time to attack her. She did, in fact, sign a humiliating armistice on October 31. Austria-Hungary read her fate in these occurrences. Her Czecho-Slovakian subjects broke into rebellion late in October, and her Poles were on the point of joining the revived Poland that Germany had set up against Russia. At this juncture the Italian and British forces in Italy delivered a hard attack on the Austrian lines there and Surrenders. swept them back with immense losses. Under the circumstances the government at Vienna signed an armistice on November 3 by which it gave up its last vestige of military power. Meanwhile Germany was moving steadily toward a catastrophe. Seeing their allies falling into sheer distress the German people at Political last lost confidence in their ruling class. They would have Changes felt otherwise if the war had ended favorably; but with in Germany. defeat staring them in the face they could but reflect that faith in the group had cost them dearly. Finally, on September 30 they forced their chancellor, von Hertling, to resign while Prince Maximilian of Baden, a known liberal, took his place, with respon

Austria

sibility to the Reichstag. The day he took office, October 4, he caused the Swiss government to propose to President Wilson and the Entente allies an armistice to be followed by a conference to consider the terms of peace.

At this moment Germany seemed to face complete defeat. An armistice would give her time to extricate her armies from the threatened disaster. Many people thought Prince Maximilian's Armistice note was but a ruse to gain time for such an end. But Requested. President Wilson did not mean to reject an opportunity to have peace at the earliest moment, if assured that the offer was genuine. He inquired if Germany accepted the "Fourteen Points," and did the chancellor speak for the constituted authorities of the empire? Senator Lodge, speaking in the senate, expressed his keen disappointment "that the President should at this stage enter into a discussion" with Germany. He would have had him demand unconditional surrender.

In his reply Prince Maximilian accepted the "Fourteen Points" and asserted that he held office by virtue of the wish of the Reichstag and thus spoke for the German people. Other notes conArmistice firmed these declarations, and President Wilson submitted Signed, the correspondence to the governments of the allied Nov. 11, powers, who, in turn, announced their willingness to enter 1918. into peace negotiation on the basis of the "Fourteen Points," with certain conditions. Thus was called the meeting of military officers at Senlis, November 8, at which the Germans accepted the severe terms of the armistice dictated by the visitors. It was agreed that firing should cease at eleven o'clock on the morning of November 11.

It is probable that the mass of the German people did not then know to what extent they were beaten. They made a brave attempt to welcome their soldiers home as victors, but the terms of the Terms of armistice placed Germany at the feet of her enemies. She Armistice. gave up vast quantities of munitions, including 5000 guns, 25,000 machine-guns, and 1700 airplanes of the best classes. She evacuated the country west of the Rhine and allowed her opponents to hold temporarily the cities of Cologne, Mayence, and Coblenz, the last mentioned being occupied by United States troops. In addition she gave up all her submarines, 6 battle cruisers, 10 battleships, 5 modern light cruisers, and 50 modern destroyers. Measures like these completely destroyed her power of resistance, and left her at the mercy of her opponents in the future course of the peace negotiations.

This humiliation broke the spell through which the privileged classes had ruled the people. Stripped of successes they were menaced with repudiation, and November 9 the kaiser abdi- Hohencated and fled to Holland, followed by the Crown Prince zollerns and other members of the Hohenzollern family. The Overthrown. king of Würtemberg also abdicated, and the kings of Bavaria and

Saxony were deposed. Within a week most of the princes, grand dukes, and dukes who had ruled in Germany yielded up their power. The kaiser held on to his kingship of Prussia until November 28, when he gave that up also in a letter of abdication. The result was that Germany became "an imperial republic."

The Peace Conference met at Versailles January 18, 1919. The representatives of the United States were President Wilson, Secretary

Peace of State Lansing, Colonel E. M. House, Henry White, and Conference General Tasker H. Bliss. The president believed it his Delegates. duty to go to the Conference in order to obtain the adoption of a League of Nations. Leading the delegation it was natural for him to dominate it. He arrived at Brest, the point of debarkation for most of the American soldiers who had gone to France, on December 13, 1918. Arriving in Paris next day he was received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations. In visits he made to England and Italy he was received with the same delirious joy, as the bringer of a new era of "peace on earth and good will to men. In the relaxation from the horrors of war the people hailed with delight one who stood for permanent peace. How they were to get permanent peace they did not stop to ask.

In the United States public opinion was shifting. Early in his first administration President Wilson gave much time to the manWilson's agement of his party. When the World War began he Leadership. concentrated his energies on problems of neutrality and began to let party leadership slip out of his hands. When we got into the war he gave intense attention to its direction and to his plan for a League of Nations. Most of the democrats followed him loyally; but a few, notably some democratic senators, resented his preoccupied manner and began to find fault with the conduct of the war. They had energetic support from the opposition party. Enough was said and done to create the opinion that the administration was most inefficient. To most of the malcontent democrats the League of Nations was a sacrifice of national interests.

This undercurrent of dissatisfaction found expression in the elections of 1918. It was aided by the fact that the republicans had now The Elec- completely healed the breach of 1912. As the elections tions of 1918. approached the democrats came to realize the peril in which they stood, and some of them appealed to the president to issue a statement in their behalf. Yielding to their requests he called on the country to elect a senate and house that would support him in carrying through his policy in the peace negotiations. His opponents pronounced this an unwarranted interference in the elections. The counting of ballots showed that they had carried both houses of congress. Thus it happened that when President Wilson went into the Peace Conference determined to wring some kind of League of Nations from the European diplomats he was hampered by the fact