The British, French and United States Governments gave recognition to the Czecho-Slovaks as an Allied nation—a geographical, political and military entity—with three armies, one in Siberia, one in Italy and one in France, where they had been fighting with the Allies to crush the Huns. The territory which the Czecho-Slovaks claim as their own to govern independently comprises Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slavonika, which lie between and are part of Austria-Hungary and Germany.
With the facilities for handling the troops abroad thoroughly organized and the obvious necessity for furnishing greater manpower to bring about an early defeat of Germany, the United States decided to increase the scope of its conscription and to raise an army of 3,000,000 for immediate service and adopted a new manpower bill which was passed by Congress the last week in August and signed by President Wilson on August 30.
The measure provided for the registration and drafting of all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 years, allowing for deferred classification of those engaged in essential work or having obligations which made it impossible for them to render active military service.
Not only the Allied successes on the western front, but also those on the Italian front and in the Balkans, where the French, Italians and Greeks in Albania, with a million troops, advanced against the Germans, Austrians and Turks, made apparent the necessity for further concentration of manpower.
While losing ground on the western front and rapidly being forced to the wall, Germany gave another spectacular twist to her military program by carrying the war to America's doors. With her submarines she sank nearly two score of ships, schooners, barges, tugs, and even a lightship, within a few miles of New York, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston and the Delaware Capes.
But while the U-boats were harassing, no effective assaults were made against the ships which carried American troops abroad. In this connection it should never be forgotten in the glamour of war that while America performed wonders in getting her soldiers overseas, England provided most of the ships, and that it was England's Navy which kept the German Navy in check while America's war vessels and destroyers convoyed the troopships and protected them from the submarines.
CHAPTER XXX.
VICTORY—PEACE.
The German Empire Collapses—Foch's Strategy Wins—American Inspiration a Big Factor—Bulgaria, Turkey and Austria Quit War—Monarchs Fall—- Kaiser Abdicates and Flees Germany—Armistice Signed—November 11, Peace.