The campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was relied upon by Germany to win the war by the extinction of the British mercantile marine and the stoppage of transatlantic supplies, had proved a failure by August, 1917, after six months' duration. While the tonnage destroyed by the undersea instruments of frightfulness was sufficiently serious to cause grave alarm on both sides of the Atlantic, it formed but a small percentage of the ships actively and continually engaged in the transportation of munitions and supplies, while it was practically counterbalanced by the activities of Allied shipbuilders and by the seizure for Allied service of interned German ships in the countries that entered the war subsequent to February 1, 1917, when the campaign of unrestricted destruction began. Determined efforts were made by the British, French and United States navies to cope with the undersea enemy, and these were increasingly successful. Many merchant ships and transports were convoyed to safety by the destroyers of the three great naval Allies, and by August the fear that Britain could be starved out by means of German submarines had practically disappeared. The record of sinkings of British vessels for the first twenty-four weeks after the "unrestricted" warfare began was as follows:
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Over Under 1,600 1,600 Smaller Week tons. tons. First............ 14 9 Second........... 13 4 Third............ 16 8 Fourth .......... 19 7 Fifth............ 18 13 Sixth ........... 17 2 Seventh.......... 19 9 Eighth .......... 40 15 Ninth............ 38 13 Tenth............ 24 22 Eleventh ........ 18 5 Twelfth.......... 18 5 Thirteenth ...... 18 1 Fourteenth ...... 15 3 Fifteenth........ 22 10 Sixteenth........ 27 5 Seventeenth ..... 21 7 Eighteenth ...... 15 5 Nineteenth ...... 14 3 Twentieth........ 14 4 Twenty-first..... 21 3 Twenty-second ... 18 3 Twenty-third..... 21 2 Twenty-fourth ... 14 2 Total............ 474 164 Grand total of ships sunk...... |
KING OF GREECE DEPOSED
King Constantine I of Greece was forced by the Allies to abdicate his throne on June 12, 1917, in favor of his second son, Prince Alexander. The kingdom remained, but not a pro-German one as before. In order to block the designs of the King and court, who were doing their best to deliver Greece to the Germans, the Entente powers were obliged to make a succession of demands upon the Greek government, including the demobilization of most of the army, the surrender of the fleet, and the withdrawal of Greek troops from Thessaly. In an effort to enforce their demands the Entente allies landed marines in Athens—who were fired upon—and finally declared an embargo on imports into Greece. Turmoil and intrigue continued, and pressure was brought to bear upon Constantine which compelled him to abdicate the throne. Venizelos returned as premier and Greece was announced as a belligerent on the side of the Entente.
THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
In the Trentino the Italians took the offensive in June and after terrible fighting captured the Austrian positions on Monte Ortigara and Agnello Pass. These they were forced to relinquish, however, in the face of Austrian counter-attacks.
The Italian campaign on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, continued throughout the summer, was perhaps the most scientific of all the campaigns, involving tremendous technical difficulties, which were solved with amazing ingenuity and skill. The campaign was largely an engineers' and an artilleryman's war, waged in the mountains, much of it in regions of perpetual snow—highly picturesque and spectacular. Finally, it was as little destructive as war well can be, because the Italians were fighting in territories which they hoped to hold after the conflict, and they spared the towns and villages to the greatest extent possible.
BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST
The capture of Bagdad by the British in March, 1917, after a brilliant campaign in Mesopotamia, had a deep moral effect in the Orient, particularly in Arabia, where the natives revolted against Turkish rule and established an independent government in Mecca.
In the Holy Land the British in 1917 opened a new era in the history of the East. Their advance by August 1 had carried them nearly to Gaza. Their objective was Jerusalem, which the Turks partly evacuated at their approach, after doing untold damage in the holy city and inflicting many atrocities upon the inhabitants.