[FRENCH GUN BEFORE ARRAS]
[APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING LIQUID FIRE]
[MOROCCAN TROOPS IN CAMP AT ARCY]
[BELGIAN SOLDIERS RE-FORMING FOR A FRESH ATTACK]
[CANADIAN VOLUNTEERS AT BAYONET PRACTICE]
[GERMAN SOLDIERS LIVING IN A CAVE IN FRANCE]
[COMPLETING AN UNDERGROUND SHELTER]
[FRENCH SOLDIERS LEAVING THEIR TRENCH FOR A CHARGE]
[ARMORED AUTOMOBILE INTERCEPTING A TROOP OF CAVALRY]
[SUBMARINE MAKING OBSERVATION ON SURFACE]
[PRAYER IN A FRENCH CHURCH IN USE AS A HOSPITAL]
[FRENCH SOLDIERS CARRYING WOUNDED MEN TO AMBULANCES]
[CARING FOR A WOUNDED RED CROSS DOG]
[DEATH OF A TRAITOR TO FRANCE]
[NEW BRITISH MONITOR NEAR OSTEND]
[SINKING OF THE FALABA]
[LUSITANIA DISASTER]
[GERMAN GUNNERS AIMING AT A RUSSIAN AEROPLANE]
[RUSSIAN FLOATING MINE WASHED ASHORE ALONG THE WEICHSEL]
[GERMAN SOLDIERS ON THE SANDS OF SKATRE]
[OBSERVATION STATION IN A TREE NEAR THE MEMEL]
[GERMAN CRUISERS NEAR MEMEL]
[DISINFECTING CLOTHING IN A PETROGRAD HOSPITAL]
[GERDAUEN, EAST PRUSSIA, BURNED IN THE RUSSIAN INVASION]
[SERVICE IN A WAYSIDE CHAPEL IN GALICIA]
[AUSTRIAN TELEPHONE STATION]
[TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF AUSTRIAN UHLANS INTO PRZEMYSL]
[RUSSIAN BRIDGE DESTROYED IN THE RETREAT TOWARD WARSAW]
[JAPANESE GUN AND AMMUNITION NEAR GRODNO]
[TEMPORARY BRIDGE ACROSS THE DRINA]
[AMERICAN DOCTORS IN SERBIA]
[SERBIAN DEAD IN THE PLAGUE OF TYPHUS]
[EFFECT OF TEUTON SHELLS ON THE FORTS AT PRZEMSYL, GALICIA]
LIST OF MAPS
[POLAND AND THE RUSSO-GERMAN FRONTIER (Colored Map)]
[WESTERN BATTLE LINE, JANUARY 1, 1915]
[NEUVE CHAPELLE, BATTLE AT]
[YPRES, GAS BATTLE OF]
[FIGHTING IN ALSACE-HARTMANNSWEILERKOPF]
[ARTOIS, BATTLES IN]
[GERMAN SUBMARINE WAR ZONE]
[EMDEN LANDING PARTY, CRUISE OF]
[CARPATHIAN PASSES AND RUSSIAN BATTLE LINE]
[PRZEMYSL, DETAIL MAPS OF THE FORTS OF]
[GALICIAN CAMPAIGN FROM TARNOW TO PRZEMYSL]
[GALICIAN CAMPAIGN FROM PRZEMYSL TO BESSARABIA]
[RIGA, GERMAN ADVANCE ON]
[WARSAW, GERMAN ATTEMPTS TO REACH, IN 1914]
[WARSAW, ADVANCE AND CAPTURE OF]
[NORTHERN ITALY, SHOWING THE WHOLE ITALIAN-AUSTRIAN FRONTIER AND THE PART OF AUSTRIA DEMANDED BY ITALY]
CHAPTER I
PREPARATIONS FOR AN OFFENSIVE
During the greater part of the winter of 1914-15, the fighting along the western front had been almost constant, but had resulted in little that either side could justly assert to be a success. The rigors inevitable in such a mode of warfare had become almost beyond human endurance, and commanders on both sides looked forward to a more active campaign.
An immense amount of ammunition had been stored by the French in and around Perthes in anticipation of a forward movement; and, by the second week of February, a quarter of a million men of the French army had been assembled near that place. They were opposite a section of the German trenches which was about twelve miles long, extending from Ville-sur-Tourbe in the Argonne to the village of Souain. Early in the year this section had been held by only two divisions of Rhinelanders. These two divisions had suffered severely from the heavy gun fire which the French had directed against them by means of the successful work of the French aviators. The French infantry also had done effective work in the short rush which they had been making, gaining on an average about twelve yards a day. Following the concentration of French troops, the German commanders brought up reenforcements to the number of 80,000. Some of these were taken from La Bassée, and others from a contingent which had been intended for a northern offensive movement.