With the complete surrender of Bolshevist Russia to the Germans, through the notorious Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, there was presented to the Allies the problem of supporting those elements in the country still disposed to resist the Teutonic invasion. Military intervention, by way of Siberia, with the active assistance of the Japanese, was proposed, but met with the determined opposition of President Wilson, whose strong democratic principles deterred him from interfering with the internal affairs of Russia under any pretext whatever. Subsequently he modified his views on this point, being largely influenced by the Czecho-Slovak movement, one of the most remarkable and picturesque features of the entire war.
MAP OF WESTERN FRONT
Although many important campaigns, some of them of dazzling brilliancy, were carried on during the World War in various parts of Europe and Asia in Russia, Palestine, Bulgaria, and on the Italo Austrian frontier, the result of the struggle was decided on the western front. Here the great armies of Germany and the Entente were locked for four years in death grapple. The map shows the theater of operations. The white line marks the farthest limit of the German advance, when in September, 1914, their armies were turned back when Von Kluck was within twenty two miles of Paris. Within that line and the black line with white dots which marks the position of the contending armies when the armistice was signed, November 11, 1918, the heaviest fighting of the war took place. In this area are shown the Marne River, which the Germans reached in 1914 and 1918, the Aisne, to which they retreated after their first repulse before Paris, and the Somme, where the Allies were victorious in the campaign of 1918. The heavy red lines include the territory of Germany occupied by the victorious Allies after the armistice. Of this, Alsace and Lorraine have been definitely ceded to France by the Peace Treaty. At three great crossings of the Rhine—Cologne, Coblenz and Mayence—bridgeheads were established, each with a radius of eighteen miles to be occupied respectively by British, American, and French armies. The oblique red lines on the right bank of the Rhine mark a strip six miles wide and parallel with the river that constitutes a neutral zone. The occupied territory is to be held for fifteen years, the period in which it is estimated Germany will have paid the indemnity demanded by the Treaty.
ST. MIHIEL BATTLE GROUND
The battle of St. Mihiel was fought September 12th, 1918. It was notable not only for the completeness of the victory, but also because it was the first great battle planned and fought wholly under American direction. The St. Mihiel salient had been formed during the first invasion by the Germans in 1914 and had been held by them for four years. In two days the American First Army wiped it out of existence. The red dots indicate the line of the contending armies when the battle was joined. The broad red line shows the position three days later. The salient was crushed by the irristible onset of the Americans, and 152 square miles of territory, including seventy-two villages, were taken. In twenty-seven hours after the attack was launched 15,000 prisoners and hundreds of guns were captured, together with vast stores of munitions and supplies, while a force of Germans, estimated from 90,000 to 100,000 men, was in headlong retreat. The battle was of immense strategic importance, as it freed Verdun from menace on its right flank and placed the dominating heights of the Meuse in Allied hands.
MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
The battle of the Argonne Forest has been described as the greatest of the war. It was certainly the most difficult. The story of its taking is an epic and reflects imperishable glory on American arms. The forest had been held by the Germans for four years. Its natural difficulties were so great that Napoleon himself had refused to attack it, believing it impregnable. To these natural obstacles the Germans had brought all the aids of military science. Every foot of it had been ranged for their artillery. Thousands of miles of barbed wire had been wound from bush to bush and tree to tree. Myriads of machine-gun nests commanded all strategic points. The ground had to be won foot by foot. It was believed even by many of the Allied commanders that success was impossible. The Germans realized the tremendous importance of the position, and had brought up their best divisions for its defense. But the power and fury of the American attack could not be denied. The American First Army began the battle September 26, 1918, between the Meuse and Aisne Rivers, directly east of Rheims, on a front of twenty miles. They took 5,000 prisoners on the first day, and 3,000 more on the second, besides obtaining all their objectives. Day by day the struggle continued, the Americans always advancing, until by October 16 Grand Pré was taken and the forest was practically cleared. From that point the First Army under General Liggett, and the Second under General Bullard fought their way to the Meuse. The red dotted line shows where the offensive began, and the broad red line indicates the position when the armistice was signed, November 11, 1918.