Fought the last battle of the war, capturing a German wagon train of fifty wagons and crews, a half hour after the armistice went into effect.
Refused to fraternize with the Germans even after the armistice was signed.
THE TERMS IMPOSED ON GERMANY
With the signing of the armistice terms, November 11, 1918, the actual fighting in the world war came to an end but the statesmen of the allied nations were faced by a task of extraordinary difficulty. We must remember that not until after the armistice was signed was any of German soil exposed to invasion. Her cities and villages were intact, her land had not been churned by exploding shells. Not only were her factories in good working condition, but they were packed with costly machinery stolen from French and Belgian factories. Her very churches were adorned with masterpieces of art from plundered cathedrals of Western Europe and innumerable private homes possessed articles of furniture and bric-a-brac stolen from wrecked homes in France and Belgium, before they were totally destroyed. War on the part of Germany in the invaded territories of the allies had degenerated into brigandage.
The task before the allied statesmen was to frame conditions of peace that would make it impossible for Germany to devote her energies to preparations for another war of conquest. That in itself was a most difficult thing to arrange. In addition, among the allied nations were many cross currents of national interests that had to be taken into consideration and compromises effected. Probably no gathering of statesmen ever had more momentous questions to consider. The allied nations sent their premiers and most influential statesmen to the congress in Paris. The president of the United States broke the customs that had prevailed from the time of Washington to the present and was one of the delegates from this country to the most important peace council that the world had ever seen.
THE PEACE CONGRESS
The peace congress began its formal sessions January 12, 1919. Mr. Clemenceau, premier of France, was elected chairman. The difficulties in the way of an agreement among themselves as to the terms to be imposed on Germany were so great that it was almost exactly four months before the terms of peace were laid before the delegates from Germany. A singular coincidence is to be noticed. It was almost four years to a day from the sinking of the Lusitania. That act of piracy was one of the acts that roused America and led to our intervention. The sinking of the ship was made the occasion for a school holiday in Germany. The fourth anniversary of the sinking was a day of gloom and despair for the fallen nation. That country stood arraigned before the highest tribunal in the world as the aggressor in the mightiest war of history and read the stern decrees of the allies that stripped her of lands and powers. History knows of no more startling changes in wealth and power than that experienced by Germany as a result of the worlds war.
The treaty is the most voluminous one ever drawn. It contains about 90,000 words, or sufficient to make a volume half as large as this one. That gives us an idea of the immense number of points that had to be considered. For our purpose it is only necessary to present an analysis of its principal provisions. No one except delegates of the nations expressly concerned care for the entire text, but all desire a general understanding of what the treaty sets forth. It re-draws the map of Central Europe, and contains stipulations that will profoundly affect the future of the nations composing the Teutonic Alliance.
WHY TERMS ARE SO SEVERE
Before considering the terms themselves, let us make a general observation. The terms are undoubtedly severe, perhaps the most drastic ever imposed on a conquered people. We do well to reflect that many wrongs in the past committed by Germany had to be righted. Not to mention her colonial empire Germany loses nearly one-third of her territory in Europe. The part restored to France is simply a return of territory wrongly taken from France in 1871. The larger part of her lost territory goes to Poland from whom it was taken two hundred years ago in the utterly unjust partition in the days of Frederick the Great. But what the treaty seeks to safeguard is the safety of the world. Germany's record since the days of Bismark is that of one continuous grasping after territory at the expense of surrounding nations. It was absolutely necessary to impose such terms as would render her powerless in this matter. It will be noticed that the terms imposed spell the end of German militarism. That menace to the peace and safety of the world is removed.