Chapter IV: Part 4

April 5--French forces, by vigorous counterattacks, improve their positions in the region of Mailly-Raineval and Cantigny; Germans attack British lines from the Somme northward to a point above Bucquoy and reach the Albert-Amiens railway, but are driven back.

April 6--Germans attack at several points along the French front from the region of Montdidier eastward to the east and south of Chauny, but are repulsed everywhere except on the left bank of the Oise in the Chauny sector.

April 7--Germans push on south of the Oise and take Coucy Wood and Pierremande and Folembray; British retake Aveluy Wood and repel attacks opposite Albert and south of Hébuterne.

April 8--British lines around Bucquoy heavily shelled; Germans drive French back to the western bank of the Ailette River and take Verneuil and the heights east of Coucy-le-Château; Americans rout German patrol northwest of Toul; French airmen locate and bombard the gun that fired on Paris.

April 9--Germans force back the British-Portuguese centre on the River Lys between Estaires and Bac St. Maur, and take Richeboucq-St. Vaast and Laventie; British repulse attacks at Givenchy and Fleurbaix.

April 10--Germans cross the River Lys at several points between Armentières and Estaires; British forced back north and south of Armentières; French repulse Germans in the Hangard region; first American troops reach the British front.

April 11--Germans hurl troops at British front from La Bassée to the Ypres-Comines Canal, and force the British to give ground at some points, notably at Estaires and Steenwerck.

April 12--Germans launch heavy attacks against the French in the Hangard-en-Santerre sector, penetrate Hangard, but later lose half of the village to the French; Americans help to repel an attack in the Apremont Forest; British forced back west and northwest of Armentières to Neuve Eglise; Merville lost.

April 13--French advance northwest of Orvilles-Sorel and repulse attack near Noyon; British regain Neuve Eglise, but beat off German attacks southeast of Bailleul; Americans repulse two attacks in force in the Toul sector, winning the first all-day battle in which they have been engaged.

April 14--British hold Neuve Eglise against repeated German assaults; Germans attack near Bailleul and Merris; Americans repulse attacks north of St. Mihiel; bombardment of Paris by long-range gun continues.

April 15--Germans take Neuve Eglise, and hurl huge forces toward Bailleul and Wulverghem; British straighten out their salient around Wytschaete; definite announcement made of the appointment of General Foch as Commander in Chief of the allied armies in France, with enlarged powers.

April 16--Germans take Wytschaete and Spanbroekmolen, after forcing the British out of Bailleul; sixteen killed, forty-five wounded in long-range bombardment of Paris.

April 17--British re-enter Wytschaete and Meteren, but are forced out; Germans occupy Poelcappelle, Langemarck, and Passchendaele.

CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR

March 21--British advance in Palestine, taking Beit Rima, Kefrut, and Elowsallabeh.

March 22-23--British advance nine miles on the left bank of the Jordan; Arabs destroy Turkish camel corps company near Jedahah.

March 26--British carry Turkish main positions north of Khan-Baghdadi; entire Turkish force in the Hit area captured or destroyed.

April 1--British advance seventy-three miles beyond Anah and menace Aleppo.

April 4--Armenians recapture Erzerum from the Turks.

April 7--Turks take Ardahan from the Armenians.

April 11--British in Palestine advance their line to a depth of one and a half miles on a front of five miles, and capture the villages of El Kefr and Rafat.

April 17--Turks capture Batum.

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

March 22--Fighting becomes more active along the entire front; Italians drive back patrols on the Trentino front and eject an Austrian detachment from an advanced post in the Frenzela Valley sector.

March 28--Artillery engagements east of Badeneoche; forty Austrian divisions transferred to the Italian front.

AERIAL RECORD

James Ian Macpherson, Parliamentary Secretary of the British War Office, announced in the British Commons on March 19 that 255 flights into Germany, constituting 38 raids, had been made since last October, and that forty-eight tons of bombs had been dropped.

Italians bombed Metz on the nights of March 17 and March 23 and the railway station at Thionville on March 24.

Paris was raided on the night of April 12 and twenty-six were persons killed and seventy-two wounded.

Bombs were dropped on the east coast of England on the night of April 12. Five persons were killed and fifteen injured.

NAVAL RECORD

Ostend was bombarded by British monitors on March 21. On the same day two German destroyers and two torpedo boats were sunk off Dunkirk by British and French destroyers.

The Alexander Agassiz, a small boat formerly of American registry, which was outfitted by the Germans at Mazatlan for service as a raider, was captured in the Pacific Ocean by an American cruiser on March 19.

The Belgian relief ship Flandres was sunk by a mine on April 11.

The German transport Frankland struck a mine and sank at Noorland, March 22, and all on board, including Admiral von Meyrer, were drowned.

Ten German trawlers were sunk by the British in the Cattegat on April 15.

RUSSIA, RUMANIA, AND POLAND

Leon Trotzky asked the American military mission for ten American officers to aid as inspectors in organizing and training a new volunteer army, and requested the aid of American railway engineers and transportation experts in the reorganization of the railways, March 20. The same day he addressed the Moscow Soviet, calling for a new army of from 300,000 to 750,000, commanded by trained officers.

Japanese and British marines were landed at Vladivostok on April 5, following the invasion of a Japanese office by five armed Russians, who killed one Japanese and wounded two others. The Siberian Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates protested to the Consular Corps, but the Japanese representatives at Vologda explained that the landing was only a local incident and that Admiral Kato had acted on his own initiative.

The Trans-Caucasian Constituent Assembly, in session at Tiflis on March 21, refused to ratify the peace treaty with Germany, and urged immediate war. On March 29 the Caucasus Diet approved the basis of a separate peace agreement with Turkey, including autonomy for Armenia and the restoration of old frontiers.

The Armenians and Georgians refused to recognize the cession of territory made under the Brest-Litovsk treaty, and on April 3 fierce fighting broke out in the districts of Batum, Kars, and Ardahan, as the Turks began military occupation. The Georgians seized most of the Russian warships in the Harbor of Batum and took them into the Black Sea. On April 4 the Armenians recaptured Erzerum from the Turks, and on April 7 the Turks took Ardahan from the Armenian forces.

Alexander Marghiloman, leader of the Conservatives, was appointed Premier of Rumania March 20. On the same day Germany announced the extension of the armistice until March 22.

On March 21 Germany increased her demands on Rumania, calling for the surrender of all war munitions. Austria demanded the surrender of all territory west of a line extending from a point east of Red Tower Pass to a point on the Danube near Ghilramar, and also a strip of country eighty miles long and ten miles wide in the region of Predeal. On March 23 Germany again extended the armistice because of a delay in the formation of the Rumanian Cabinet. On March 29 Germany demanded that the Rumanian oil wells be turned over to a German-controlled corporation.

German forces continued their advance in Ukraine, taking Kherson on March 21 and burning Poltava on March 31. The Ukrainian Rada protested against the German demand for 85 per cent. of the country's grain supply and practically all of the sugar supply, March 27. On April 5 the Bolshevist Government protested against the invasion by German and Ukrainian troops of Kursk Province.

Finland protested to the German Government, March 29, against the arrest of Major Henry Crosby Emery, representative of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York, and his detention on the Aland Islands.

British and French troops were reported on March 31 to be co-operating with the Bolshevist troops in the defense of the Kola and Mourmansk troops against the Finnish White Guards. German troops were landed in Finland April 3, and on the same day the Finnish White Guards captured Tammerfors. The Russian fleet escaped from Helsingfors on April 7. On April 8 Germany sent an ultimatum demanding the removal or disarmament of all Russian warships in Finnish waters by April 12, and on April 11 a German squadron, with several transports, arrived at Lovisa.

On April 14 German troops took Hyving and Finnish White Guards took Bjoerneborg. Helsingfors was occupied by the Germans on April 15.

Abo was evacuated by the Red Guards on April 16.

MISCELLANEOUS

President Poincaré refused to pardon Bolo Pacha, April 7, and the next day the condemned man made a statement concerning other treason cases, thus gaining a reprieve. He was executed on the morning of April 17.

Holland refused the Allies' terms for the transfer of Dutch ships and demanded guarantees that they would not be used for troops or munitions. On March 20 President Wilson issued a proclamation ordering their seizure. The Netherlands Government protested in a statement which appeared in the Official Gazette March 30. On April 1 President Wilson issued an order authorizing the Navy Department to take possession of all equipment and cargoes. Secretary Lansing replied to the Netherlands Government in a statement issued on April 13.

Premier Lloyd George addressed the British House of Commons on April 9 on the military situation and the man-power problem. He asked that the services of every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 50 be placed at the disposal of the Government and advocated conscription in Ireland. Leave to introduce the man-power bill was carried in the House. The next day the second reading was carried, and on April 12 the bill was passed. On the same day Sir Horace Plunkett submitted to Lloyd George his report on the Irish Convention's plan for home rule. The third reading of the man-power bill was passed by the House of Lords April 17.

Mme. Despina Davidovitch Storch, a woman of Turkish birth; Baron Henri de Beville, Mrs. Elizabeth Charlotte Nix, and a man who called himself Count Robert de Clairmont were arrested in New York City on March 18 on suspicion of being members of an international spy system working in the interests of Germany. President Wilson ordered their deportation to France. Mme. Storch died of pneumonia at Ellis Island on March 30.

Lieutenants Calamaras and Hodjopoulos, who landed in Greece from a German submarine to act as agents of ex-King Constantine, and who planned to arrange a spy system and establish a naval base, were executed on March 30.

The Supreme War Council of the Allies issued a statement on March 18 condemning German political crimes against the Russian and Rumanian peoples, refusing to acknowledge Germany's peace treaties with them, and announcing their purpose to establish a reign of organized justice.

General Ferdinand Foch was made Generalissimo of all the allied forces on the western front on March 28. A definite official announcement of his appointment as Commander in Chief, with enlarged powers, was made on April 15.

Russia Under German Domination

Record of a Month's Events The Russo-German peace treaty, signed by the Bolshevist plenipotentiaries on March 3, 1918, and ratified at a session of the All-Russian Soviet Congress held in Moscow on March 14-16, was approved, after a prolonged discussion, by the Main Committee of the German Reichstag on March 22.

Discussing the situation created in Russia by the Brest-Litovsk pact, a Petrograd daily remarks that, while the rest of the world has secret diplomacy and open war, Russia has open diplomacy and secret war. In fact, the final ratification of the "peace" instrument by both sides did not put an end to the military operations of the Central Powers in Russia. Nor did the Russians cease to make feeble and sporadic attempts at resistance.

In the third week of March the fall of Petrograd seemed imminent, but the transfer of the Government to Moscow and the partial evacuation of the northern capital by the civil population apparently changed the objective of the invading German troops to the ancient Russian metropolis. They began to march on Moscow from northwest, west, and southwest, but stopped within the distance of approximately 150 miles from that city. For the last three weeks practically no fighting has been going on in the north of Russia, except occasional guerrilla skirmishes and punitive expeditions, conducted by the Germans and the propertied classes. On the other hand, in the south the Austro-German invaders have been vigorously pushing on, ostensibly under the pretext of assisting the friendly Ukrainian nation in its struggle against the Soviet power.

By March 20 the Teutons were in possession of the whole of Western Ukraine west of the Dnieper. Among other cities they held Zhitomir, Kiev, Nikolayev, and Odessa. The latter city, the most important commercial seaport in Russia, was reported to have been occupied by four Austro-German regiments without a shot. Kherson was taken March 21. On March 27, the semi-official Russian news agency announced that the Soviet and Ukrainian troops, assisted by naval forces, recaptured Odessa. According to an earlier report, Kherson, Nikolayev, and Znamenka were also recaptured by Red Guards and armed civilians. The retaking of Odessa was officially denied by Vienna, and the city is apparently in the hands of the Teutons at this writing (April 18). They are reported to have seized large stores of war materials at Odessa, and 2,500 ships at Nikolayev, which is a port on the Black Sea, with vast docks for building warships. The Austro-Germans also took Poltava, situated midway between the Dnieper and Donetz, and set it on fire. The capture of Poltava was followed (April 8) by that of Yekaterinoslav and Kharkov, the former seat of the Bolshevist Rada.

On April 11 the invaders occupied the small city of Lgov, 130 miles northwest of Kharkov, and an ultimatum was sent to the City of Kursk, demanding its surrender. Both towns are situated in the province of Kursk, which lies beyond the Russo-Ukrainian border as defined by the Central Powers.

The march of the Teutons, coupled with their requisitions of food products, seemed to arouse a good deal of dissatisfaction among the peasants and workmen in the Ukraine. It is reported that the Rada, which had invited the Germans, requested them to stop the advance of their troops, but their request was not heeded. The behavior of the Teutons in Kiev led to a clash between the Ukrainian authorities and the German commandant. The demand of the Austro-Germans that the Ukraine should furnish them 85 per cent. of its grain and all its sugar except that needed for local consumption was particularly resented. On April 7 the Bolshevist Foreign Minister Chicherin signified to the German Government his willingness to open peace negotiations with the Ukraine. According to some advices the Rada wished to form a federated alliance with the Russian Republic.

IN THE CAUCASUS

Article 4 of the Russo-German treaty provides for the evacuation by the Russian troops of the districts of Erivan, Kars, and Batum, (in the Caucasus,) and the reorganization of these districts in agreement with Turkey. The Transcaucasion Constituent Assembly, meeting in Tiflis, refused to recognize the peace with the Central Powers and pronounced itself in favor of a war against them. On March 29 it was reported that the local Diet declared the independence of the Caucasus and approved the project of a separate peace with Turkey. But when, several days later, the Turks began the military occupation of the Caucasian districts mentioned in the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Armenians and Georgians rose against the invaders. On April 4 the Armenians were said to have recaptured Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, which Russia evacuated after the conclusion of peace. Before the Caucasian uprising Turkey officially announced its intention to send troops to restore order in the Crimea. It was reported that massacres of Armenians were resumed by the Turks and that many thousand women and children had been butchered.

On April 14 the Russian Government forwarded to Germany a protest of the Armenian National Council, addressed to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Reichstag. The document reads in part:

Following upon the withdrawal of the Russian troops Turkish
troops already have invaded the undefended country and are not
only killing every Turkish Armenian, but also every Russian in
Armenia.

In spite of the terms of the peace treaty, which recognizes the
right of self-determination for these Caucasian regions, the
Turkish Army is advancing toward Kars and Ardahan, destroying
the country and killing the Christian population. The
responsibility for the future destiny of the Armenians lies
entirely with Germany because it was Germany's insistence that
resulted in the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the
Armenian regions, and at the moment it rests with Germany to
prevent the habitual excesses of the Turkish troops, increased
by revengefulness and anger.

INTERNAL SITUATION

The internal situation in Russia proper remains uncertain, nor have any definite changes taken place in the mood of the people or in the Governmental policies of the Bolsheviki. It is charged that the Bolshevist Government suppressed the full text of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. On April 10 the Commissioner of Commerce of the Bolsheviki announced that under the terms of the peace treaty Russia had suffered the following losses:

Seven hundred and eighty thousand square kilometers (301,000
square miles) of territory.

Fifty-six million inhabitants, constituting 32 per cent, of the
entire population of the country.

One-third of Russia's total mileage of railways, amounting to
21,530 kilometers, (13,350 miles.)

Seventy-three per cent. of the total iron production.

Eighty-nine per cent. of the total coal production.

Two hundred and sixty-eight sugar refineries, 918 textile
factories, 574 breweries, 133 tobacco factories, 1,685
distilleries, 244 chemical factories, 615 paper mills, 1,073
machine factories.

These territories, which now become German, formerly brought in
annual revenue amounting to 845,238 rubles, and had 1,800
savings banks.

The alarming sweep of the Teutonic invasion, together with the growing realization of what the Brest-Litovsk agreement really means to Russia, seemed finally to arouse some spirit of resistance in the Russian masses. Patriarch Tikhon declared that the Russian Church could not recognize a peace dismembering the country and subjecting it to a foreign power. Since the ratification the spokesmen of the Bolshevist Government have not ceased talking of organizing a large army for a new war. The prevalent Bolshevist opinion is that the new revolutionary army should be used, in the words of the semi-official Bolshevist organ Pravda, "not to strengthen, as the imperialists calculate, this or that bourgeois front, but to turn the front of the world war into a front of the workers' and soldiers' revolution."

TALK OF NEW ARMY

In March it was reported that four of the People's Commissaries had gone south to organize troops for guerrilla warfare. This idea, however, was soon abandoned. Trotzky insisted upon the necessity of having a strictly disciplined army of 300,000 to 750,000 men, under regular officers. "We cannot," he said, "preserve the illusion that European capital will patiently suffer the fact that in Russia the power is in the hands of the working class. * * * We are surrounded by enemies on all sides. If it were proposed to France to return Alsace, the French Bourse would sell Russia tomorrow." On April 2 M. Podvoisky, Assistant Commissary of War, stated that Russia would form an army of 1,500,000 men, and that the Red Army of Volunteers was steadily growing. The army organization has been changed with a view to limiting the application of the elective principle. According to some reports the Bolsheviki are hoping to have an army of 500,000 by the Fall. Some of the leaders went so far as to advocate compulsory military service. On April 10 Leon Trotzky was appointed joint Minister of War and Marine.

On the previous day the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets unanimously passed a resolution ruling that henceforth Russia's national flag would be a red banner bearing the inscription: "_Rossiyskaya, Sotzialisticheskaya Federativnaya Sovetskaya Respublika_," (Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.) Proposing the measure, the Chairman said: "The Russian flag will have to wave over the embassies in Berlin and Vienna and we cannot have the old tricolor, so I think it most proper to adopt the red flag under which we fought and gained victory."

BESSARABIA AND RUMANIA

An important event has taken place in the southwestern corner of the former Russian Empire, in the rich province of Bessarabia, where separatist tendencies have recently made themselves strongly felt. A Berlin dispatch, dated April 11, announced that the Bessarabian Diet had voted, 86 against 5, that Bessarabia should join the Kingdom of Rumania. Thereupon, the Ukrainian Premier filed a protest in Russia against this act, stating that the Ukraine must have her say in the settlement of Bessarabia's fate in view of the fact that this province has a large Ukrainian population and that the Ukraine is controlling an important region on the Black Sea adjacent to Bessarabia.

The Council of the People's Commissaries was notified on April 9 that the Province of Kazan, situated in the east of European Russia and having a population of 2,000,000, had been proclaimed an independent republic by the Congress of Peasants of that region.

RUSSIA AND THE ALLIES

The Entente did not acknowledge the Russo-German peace. In a statement issued March 18 through the British Foreign Office the Governments of Great Britain, France, and Italy voiced their protest against "the political crimes which, under the name of a German peace, have been committed against the Russian people." Ambassador David R. Francis, when asked whether he would leave Russia in consequence of the ratification of the peace treaty, gave the following reply:

I shall not leave Russia until compelled by force. The American
Government and people are too deeply interested in the
prosperity of the Russian people for them to abandon Russia to
the Germans. America is sincerely interested in the liberty of
the Russian people and will do everything possible to safeguard
the real interests of the country.

If the brave and patriotic Russian people will forget political
differences for the time being and act resolutely and
vigorously, they will be able to drive the enemy from their
territory, and by the end of 1918 bring a lasting peace for
themselves and the whole world. America still counts itself an
ally of the Russian people, and we shall be ready to help any
Government which organizes a vigorous resistance to the German
invasion.

The French, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Serbian, Belgian, Brazilian, Greek, Portuguese, and Siamese representatives, who left Russia when the treaty with Germany was signed, joined the American Ambassador (who did not leave the country) at Vologda, 300 miles northeast of Moscow, late in March. A dispatch dated March 20 says: "There has been a marked change in the attitude of the Allies toward the Soviet Government. * * * There are many signs of renewed co-operation between Russia and the Allies." The dispatch also quotes M. Chicherin, the Bolshevist Foreign Minister, as saying that "Russia's relations with the Entente are unchanged."

At the same time Trotzky approached the American military mission, established in Moscow, asking it to assist Russia in organizing a volunteer army and in improving the country's transportation. On March 27 the Petit Parisien published a statement to the effect that Trotzky had also asked the French to assist him in organizing military resistance to the Germans. A leading article in Premier Clemenceau's L'Homme Libre contained the following statement: "The Entente, as long as the war lasts, will regard Russia, the one and indivisible Russia which signed the pact of London, as an ally."

Russia also reckons on the Allies, especially America, for support in rehabilitating her industries and developing her resources. A large order for agricultural machinery has been placed in the United States, and the shipping of the goods has already begun. According to a London dispatch the Bolsheviki are sending a commission to the United States to settle Russia's accounts with American firms and make arrangements for future trade relations.

THE JAPANESE LANDING

After Russia's collapse, and especially after her capitulation, Japan's intervention in Siberia was a subject of lively discussion in the allied countries. Persistent rumors were circulated by the press to the effect that large masses of armed and organized Teuton prisoners, numbering at least 150,000 men, were ready to seize the Trans-Siberian railroad and menace the military stores accumulated in Vladivostok. These rumors were declared by the Bolshevist authorities to be a part of the propaganda to bring disrepute on the Soviet power and encourage Japanese intervention, which Lenine's Government regards as an encroachment of world imperialism upon Socialist Russia.

On Friday, April 5, two companies of Japanese sailors landed at Vladivostok. According to the report of the President of the Vladivostok Soviet, the landing was effected in the presence of the Japanese Consul and Admiral Kato, Japanese Marine Minister, without the consent of the other allied Consuls. Later in the day fifty British armed sailors were landed. There was also an unconfirmed report that American marines, too, were landed. On the next day 250 more Japanese sailors entered the city. In a proclamation issued at Vladivostok Admiral Kato explained that the step was taken because of the murder of a Japanese soldier and in order to protect the life and property of Japanese and allied subjects. The Vladivostok Soviet protested to the Consular Corps. Resolutions of protest were also passed by the Municipal Council and the local Zemstvo.

The news of the landing produced much excitement in the Bolshevist headquarters in Moscow. In spite of the statement of the allied diplomats that the act was a purely local affair of no political importance, the Bolsheviki construed it as the beginning of the rumored Japanese invasion. A statement issued by the Commissaries on April 6 declared that the killing of the Japanese soldier was part of a prearranged scheme, and that "Japan had started a campaign against the Soviet Republic." The following day the Izvestia spoke of the invasion as the continuation of "the crusade against revolutionary Russia" begun by imperialistic Germany. In a speech at Moscow on April 8 Premier Lenine said: "It is possible that after a short time, perhaps even within a few days, we shall have to declare war on Japan." Two days later it was reported that the Russian Government had requested Germany to permit the postponement of the demobilization of the Russian Army in view of the Japanese landing at Vladivostok.

On April 11 the Consular Corps of Vladivostok officially informed the local Zemstvo that the landing of allied sailors had been made necessary by conditions of anarchy in the port, and that the troops would be withdrawn as soon as order had been restored.

On March 16 the American Ambassador, Mr. Francis, made the following statement:

The Soviet Government and the Soviet press are giving too much
importance to the landing of these marines, which has no
political significance, but merely was a police precaution taken
by the Japanese Admiral on his own responsibility for the
protection of Japanese life and property in Vladivostok, and the
Japanese Admiral, Kato, so informed the American Admiral,
Knight, and the American Consul, Caldwell, in Vladivostok. My
impression is that the landing of the British marines was
pursuant to the request of the British Consul for the protection
of the British Consulate and British subjects in Vladivostok,
which he anticipated would possibly be jeopardized by the unrest
which might result from the Japanese landing.

The American Consul did not ask protection from the American
cruiser in Vladivostok Harbor, and consequently no American
marines were landed. This, together with the fact that the
French Consul at Vladivostok made no request for protection from
the British, American, or Japanese cruisers in the harbor,
unquestionably demonstrates that the landing of allied troops is
not a concerted action between the Allies.

The Czar's Loyalty to the Allies

An Autograph Letter

A letter written by Nicholas II. to President Poincaré in the Spring of 1916 has recently been made public. Its interest lies in its expression of absolute loyalty to the Allies. It is as follows:

DEAR AND EXALTED FRIEND: At a moment when France and Russia are
more closely bound than ever in the unprecedented struggle of
which they are supporting the weight with their faithful allies,
it has been a great pleasure to me to see the arrival of members
of the French Government in Russia. I have had much pleasure in
once again meeting M. Viviani, whom I already know, and in
recalling the last interview that I had with you. At the time
our one idea was to insure the peaceful development of our two
countries, while the enemy was already preparing his attack
against the peace of Europe in the hope of securing the hegemony
of the world. It also gives me great pleasure to meet M. Albert
Thomas, the Minister of Munitions, whose talents have rendered
such great services to his country and to the cause of the
Allies.

Having always attached great importance to an intimate
collaboration between the two Governments, I attach even greater
importance to this collaboration at the present time, now that
we are thoroughly determined only to disarm by common agreement
after gaining the final victory. It is therefore more necessary
to co-ordinate our effort in order that our common action may be
more effective. It is unquestionable that each of the Allies is
animated by a single desire--that of placing its fullest effort
at the disposal of the common cause.

It is with this desire that my Government and my officers have
devotedly studied, in association with members of the French
Government, the methods that should be taken to insure that the
greatest possible assistance should be given to our various
allies. I hope, consequently, that M. Viviani and M. Thomas will
leave here with the absolute conviction that so far as it is
materially possible Russia will hesitate before no sacrifice to
insure the triumph of the allied cause at the earliest possible
moment. My warmest wishes are that our united efforts may soon
be crowned with the most striking success, and I am anxious to
express to you my admiration of France, which has covered itself
with fresh glory in the heroic defense of Verdun.

Pershing's Army Under General Foch

American Troops in France Brigaded With French and British Units for the Great Battle in Picardy

General Pershing, in a cablegram to General March, Acting Chief of Staff, announced on March 29, 1918, that the American expeditionary force in France had been placed at the disposal of General Foch, the allied Generalissimo. The message read:

_Have made all our resources available, and our divisions will
be used if and when needed. French are in fine spirits, and both
armies seem confident._

(_Signed_) _PERSHING._

General Pershing had called on General Foch at Headquarters on the previous day, March 28, and made the offer of American troops. His words were reported by the Paris newspaper, L'Information, as follows:

"I come to say to you that the American people would hold it a great honor for our troops were they engaged in the present battle. I ask it of you, in my name and in that of the American people. There is at this moment no other question than that of fighting. Infantry, artillery, aviation--all that we have are yours to dispose of as you will. Others are coming which are as numerous as will be necessary. I have come to say to you that the American people would be proud to be engaged in the greatest battle in history."

In a statement given out at the American Headquarters in France on March 30, Secretary Baker said:

"I am delighted at General Pershing's prompt and effective action in placing all the American troops and facilities at the disposal of the Allies in the present situation. It will meet with hearty approval in the United States, where the people desire their expeditionary forces to be of the utmost service in the common cause. I have visited all the American troops in France, some of them recently, and had an opportunity to observe the enthusiasm with which officers and men received the announcement that they would be used in the present conflict. One regiment to which the announcement was made spontaneously broke into cheers."

THE OFFER ACCEPTED

General Foch placed General Pershing's offer before the French war council at the front, which included Premier Clemenceau, French Commander Pétain, and Louis Loucheur, Minister of Munitions. An official note, issued in Paris on March 31, dealing with the operation of American troops with the French and British, said:

_The French Government has decided to accede to the desire
expressed by General Pershing in the name of the United States
Government. The American troops will fight side by side with the
British and French troops and the Star-Spangled Banner will
float beside the French and English flags in the plains of
Picardy._

Further information showing that the time had come for the active participation of the American Army in the new campaign was contained in the following British official announcement, issued in London on April 1:

As a result of communications which have passed between the
Prime Minister [Lloyd George] and President Wilson; of
deliberations between Secretary Baker, who visited London a few
days ago, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Balfour, and Lord Derby,
and consultations in France, in which General Pershing and
General Bliss participated, important decisions have been come
to by which large forces of trained men in the American Army can
be brought to the assistance of the Allies in the present
struggle.

The Government of our great Western ally is not only sending
large numbers of American battalions to Europe during the
coming critical months, but has agreed to such of its regiments
as cannot be used in divisions of their own being brigaded with
French and British units so long as the necessity lasts.

By this means troops which are not yet sufficiently trained to
fight as divisions and army corps will form part of seasoned
divisions until such time as they have completed their training
and General Pershing wishes to withdraw them in order to build
up the American Army.

Arrangements for the transportation of these additional forces
are now being completed.

Throughout these discussions President Wilson has shown the
greatest anxiety to do everything possible to assist the Allies
and has left nothing undone which could contribute thereto.

This decision, however, of vital importance as it will be to the
maintenance of the allied strength in the next few months, will
in no way diminish the need for those further measures for
raising fresh troops at home, to which reference already has
been made. It is announced at once because the Prime Minister
feels that the singleness of purpose with which the United
States have made this immediate and, indeed, indispensable
contribution toward the triumph of the allied cause should be
clearly recognized by the British people.

The action of the United States in thus merging its troops with
the other armies was hailed with gratitude and praise by the
press and official spokesmen of all the Entente nations.

The first mention of Americans in the battle of Picardy was contained in the War Department's weekly review of the war situation, issued on April 7. American transport sections, it said, had taken an active part in the battle, and the American Aviation Section was co-operating with the British.

THE FIGHTING ENGINEERS

American engineers also took part in the battle, particularly during the first days of the German offensive. Three companies belonging to two regiments of the American Railway Engineers were reported in the German War Office statement as operating in the areas of Chauny and the Crozat Canal. This statement was confirmed in a report from General Pershing to the Acting Chief of Staff at Washington. The Americans had been working in the rear lines with Canadian engineers, under Canadian command. When the German attack came, they threw down their tools and seized the weapons with which they had been armed for some months, and formed themselves into a fighting unit. The Germans came on, and finally reached the positions where the Americans were waiting. The number of the engineers was comparatively small. They had no intention of retreating, however, and were bent upon killing all the Germans possible.

As the first enemy wave advanced, the American forces let them come until they were within certain range: then opened fire, pouring in a storm of bullets. Gaps appeared in the advancing lines at many places, but the German waves came on, without firing a single shot. The Americans were unable to understand these tactics. By this time their weapons were so hot that they could not be used effectively, and the enemy was close, so that the engineers retired, fighting, took up another position, then turned and began operations again. A British officer who witnessed the engagement is reported to have said: "They held on by their teeth until the last moment, inflicting terrific casualties on the enemy. Then they moved back and waited for the Germans, and repeated the performance." By the time the engineers reached a place somewhere near Noyon they were nearly exhausted and almost without equipment. There they had a chance to rest and re-equip.

On the sectors where American troops had been stationed before the decision to place them at the disposal of General Foch intensive training operations in the front-line trenches, with artillery fire and raiding of the enemy's positions, had been proceeding along much the same lines as during the previous month. A dispatch dated April 3 reported that American troops on a certain sector other than that in the region of Toul had been subjected to an extraordinarily heavy gas attack.

With the acceptance of the American offer to join in the battle of Picardy, troops began to be withdrawn from the sectors thus far occupied and from the American training camps in France, and hurried as rapidly as possible to points where the French and British required reinforcements.

Casualty lists showed that the Rainbow Division, (composed of troops from nearly every State in the Union,) the first of the National Guard divisions to cross the Atlantic, had been engaged in the fighting. The 150th Machine Gun Battalion, made up of guardsmen from the old 2d Wisconsin Infantry, had suffered heavily; of the sixty-eight men named as severely wounded in one list fifty-six were identified as members of the Wisconsin machine-gun unit.

AMERICAN WAR CROSSES

General Pershing approved, according to an announcement on March 19, the awarding of the first American military crosses for extraordinary heroism. The recipients were Lieutenant John O. Green, Sergeant William Norton, and Sergeant Patrick Walsh. The crosses were awarded for "extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy." The exploits of these men were described by the General commanding their division as follows:

I recommend that the Distinguished Service Cross be awarded to
the officer and men named hereafter, who distinguished
themselves by acts of extraordinary heroism.

Lieutenant Green, while in a dugout, having been wounded by an
enemy hand grenade, was summoned to surrender. He refused to do
so. Returning the fire of the enemy, he wounded one and pursued
the hostile party.

Sergeant Norton, finding himself in a dugout surrounded by the
enemy, into which a grenade had just been thrown, refused to
surrender, and made a bold dash outside, killing one of his
assailants. By so doing he saved the company's log book.

Sergeant Walsh followed his company commander to the first lines
in spite of a severe barrage. The Captain being killed, he
assumed command of the group and attacked a superior force of
the enemy, inflicting severe loss upon them. Though of advanced
age he refused to leave the front.

To these recommendations General Pershing appended his approval. Lieutenant Green and Sergeants Norton and Walsh had all previously received the French War Cross, Norton and Walsh being decorated personally by Premier Clemenceau on March 3.

Mr. Baker, Secretary of War, during a visit to the front-line trenches held by American troops, insisted upon going through a sap to a listening post. Peeping over the parapet into No Man's Land, he expressed his sensations in the words: "Now I am on the frontier of freedom." On the return journey from the trenches a German shell burst within less than fifty yards of Mr. Baker's motor car, hit a roadside dugout, and tore out a large crater.

TOTAL CASUALTIES

For nearly a week in the beginning of April no casualty lists were issued by the War Department, owing to a cablegram from the Secretary of War prescribing the following rules for handling publicity of matters pertaining to troops and operations:

First--All matters pertaining to events, persons, policies, or
operations abroad will only be officially given out from the
headquarters, American Expeditionary Force in France.

Second--Similar matters affecting forces at home will be given
out from the War Department.

Suppression of the casualty lists aroused criticism throughout the country, and on April 9 the War Department, acting on cabled instructions from Mr. Baker, resumed issuing the daily list. The summarized totals up to April 11 were:

DEATHS

Killed in action 228
Killed or prisoner 1
Killed by accident 181
Died of disease 867
Lost at sea 237
Died of wounds 69
Civilians 7
Gas attack, suicide, executed, unknown
causes 42
-----
Total deaths 1,632

Wounded 1,606
Captured 43
Missing 30
-----
Total of all casualties 3,311

Our War Machine in New Phases

Month Ended April 18, 1918

The outstanding feature of America's part in the war during the past month has been the placing at the disposal of General Foch, the allied Generalissimo, all the men and resources of the United States now available in France. At home preparations were hastened to call up at least another 150,000 men under the draft law to replace those sent from the training camps to France.

The navy is now represented in the war zone by 150 vessels, including battleships, under the command of Admiral Sims.

Drastic changes have been made in various branches of the War Department. The Ordnance Department and Quartermaster Corps have been brought more into line with the requirements of supplying the armies at home and abroad. The Senate Military Affairs Committee has investigated the serious delay in aircraft production, and in a majority report severely criticised the work of the Signal Corps, under which the Aviation Section is organized. The War Industries Board has been reshaped, and its Chairman, Mr. Baruch, has been given very extensive powers.

The crisis which arose out of the shipbuilding program has been passed, and our 150 shipyards are accelerating the rate of production of new ships. Dutch ships in American ports aggregating 500,000 tons have been seized, and 200,000 tons of Japanese shipping has been received by agreement.

The railroads under Government control are becoming more closely adapted to the needs of wartime distribution. Several important coastwise steamship lines have been taken over and placed under the Director General of Railroads.

The food situation still demands strict conservation, and it is recognized that America will have to submit to greater sacrifices in view of the ever-growing world shortage.

Labor questions have been engaging the serious attention of the Government and Congress. The diversion of working people to industries where they are most needed for war purposes, and legislation to prevent strikes have been under consideration. In addition to the different war industries properly so-called, a large amount of labor is now necessary for agriculture, so as to plant the largest possible crop and to harvest it in the Fall.

To finance the war, and incidentally mark the beginning of the nation's second year in the war, subscriptions were opened on April 6 for the Third Liberty Loan of $3,000,000,000 at 4¼ per cent. These bonds are nonconvertible and will mature in ten years.

WAR DEPARTMENT'S GROWTH

The experience gained by officers who have been serving with General Pershing's army in France is becoming an influence in every one of the widely ramified branches of the War Department, while Secretary Baker's visit abroad to get first-hand knowledge of the requirements of the American expeditionary force has been fertile in new ideas.

One of the signs of the growth of the War Department is the appointment of a third Assistant Secretary of War. For this position Frederick P. Keppel, Dean of Columbia University, New York, was selected by the President. On April 12 the appointment was unanimously recommended by the Senate Military Committee. The nomination of E. R. Stettinius as an Assistant Secretary had already been confirmed. Dr. Keppel's duties include the supervision of the nonmilitary activities of the soldiers, their personal welfare and comfort, both at home and abroad.

To improve the work of the General Staff at Washington General Pershing, it was announced on April 12, is sending home certain officers who have become familiar with staff work at the front, and also some practical aviation experts to aid in solving the difficulties which have arisen in the production of aircraft. Other officers include representatives of the Quartermaster Corps who have acquired experience under modern war conditions in France. In this way a greater measure of co-ordination with the army in France is being obtained.

An order issued by General March, Acting Chief of Staff, on April 12, consolidated the Division of Storage and Traffic with the Division of Purchases and Supplies, the one division to be known as the Division of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic. The division was placed under Major Gen. Goethals, who continued to serve as Assistant Chief of Staff and Acting Quartermaster General. Brig. Gen. Palmer E. Pierce, who has been a member of the War Industries Board and of the War Council created by Secretary Baker, was made Director of Purchases in January, 1918, but under this scheme of reorganization it was announced that while remaining on duty with the War Industries Board he would give up his post as Director of Purchases and Supplies. His successor, under Major Gen. Goethals, was Colonel Hugh S. Johnston, who has been General Crowder's right-hand man in the office of the Provost Marshal General.

TWO BILLIONS FOR GUNS

There have also been important changes in the Ordnance Department, it being announced on April 8 that Brig. Gen. Charles B. Wheeler, who recently succeeded Major Gen. William Crozier as head of the Ordnance Department of the Army with the title of Acting Chief of Ordnance, had been succeeded by Brig. Gen. C. C. Williams, Chief Ordnance Officer with the American expeditionary force in France. General Williams was ordered to return to Washington to take up the duties of Active Chief of Ordnance.

A summary of the work of the Gun Division, Bureau of Ordnance, prepared for the Secretary of War, shows that it has been necessary to equip sixteen large plants for the manufacture of mobile artillery and that the total program of the Gun Division calls for an expenditure of approximately $2,000,000,000. At the outbreak of the war the Gun Division was composed of three officers and seven civilians. At the end of 1917 it had approximately 500 officers and 3,500 civilians, since increased to 1,500 officers and more than 10,000 civilians. The Ordnance Department has also established a comprehensive repair service for artillery, motor vehicles, and other equipment.

With the creation of a Construction Division in the War Department on March 16, to handle the largest single building program in history, aggregating $1,084,000,000, a board of eminent experts appointed by Acting Secretary Crowell took over the work of the Cantonment Division, which did the preliminary work of building national army camps. The building program, involving hundreds of thousands of workmen and extensive structures for the army throughout the country, is under the immediate direction of the Chief of Staff. Headed by Professor A. N. Talbot of the University of Illinois, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the board includes representatives of leading architectural, engineering, business, and labor organizations.

OUR GROWING ARMY

The year of intensive recruiting for the regular army by volunteer enlistment ended on March 30, 1918. A year previously the enlisted strength of the regular army was 121,797 men, and to bring it to full war strength 183,898 additional soldiers were required. These men were obtained some months ago. The recruiting campaign, however, was continued, and on March 30 the regular army was about 501,000 strong, which represented about one-third of all the men serving under the War Department.

Major Gen. Enoch Crowder, the Provost Marshal General, on April 6 sent out a call to all the States for a total of 150,000 men in the second draft. Instructions were given for the movement of these men to begin on April 26, and for their mobilization to be complete five days later. They were selected from Class Al of the registration lists and were to replace the men who have been sent abroad from the training camps.

A resolution providing that all young men who have reached the age of 21 years since June 5, 1917, the first draft registration day, shall be subject to military service was passed by the Senate on March 29. About 58,000 men thus become available each month, and in the year since June 5, 1917, about 700,000 will have been brought under the selective draft law. The Senate rejected a proposal for universal military training for all males between 19 and 21 by a vote of 36 against 26.

The number of colored citizens registered on June 5, 1917, was 737,626. Of these 208,953 have so far been called up, and 133,256 rejected, exempted, or discharged, leaving 75,697 certified for service and inducted into the national army.

Shortage in Aircraft Production

Senate Committee's Report

The shortage of aircraft for the American Army in France has been the subject of investigation by the Military Affairs Committee of the Senate, following the sensational disclosures regarding German control of the air in the sector held by the Americans, [see CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE, April, 1918, Pp. 12-14.] The Senate Committee was not unanimous, and two reports were presented on April 12, 1918, differing as to the causes of delay in the execution of the airplane program.

The substance of the majority report is contained in the following extracts:

The Signal Corps has established and is now conducting twenty
aviation training schools in the United States. Four additional
schools are in process of construction and are expected to be
finished in June next.

The aggregate capacity of the schools now in operation is
something over 3,000 cadets; 1,926 have thus far been graduated
from this primary training course and commissioned as reserve
military aviators. Very few of these have received their
advanced training in this country.

In addition to the above, the Signal Corps, acting upon the
invitation of the several Entente Governments, dispatched some
1,200 cadets to England, France, and Italy last year, who were
to receive primary and advanced training in aviation schools of
those countries. The experience of a great many of these men has
been most unfortunate in that at some of the schools a very
serious delay has occurred in providing them with the training
planes, which it was expected would be manufactured in foreign
factories in sufficient numbers. As a result, several hundred of
the American cadets have been practically idle and have made no
progress. About 450 of them are reported as having completed the
primary training, after long delay.

The Signal Corps is giving serious consideration to the
advisability of bringing the remainder back to the United States
to be trained. With the exception of this severe disappointment,
the primary training of our aviators, according to the testimony
of the aviation officials, appears to be progressing favorably.

For some time after the inception of the work the output of
primary training planes in this country for use in our schools
gave ground for grave concern. In recent weeks, however, the
output has been greatly increased, and there seems to be no
doubt of the Signal Corps having an amply sufficient number in
the future. On April 1, 1918, 3,458 primary training planes had
been completed. The advanced training planes are being turned
out in accordance with the schedule and estimates laid down at
the inception of their manufacture. In advanced training planes
four types are being made, the total number up to date
manufactured being 342. In these planes three types of engines
will be used, of which 965 have been completed. The Liberty
motor is not suitable for use in these planes.

It is apparent from the evidence that the twelve-cylinder
Liberty motor is just emerging from the development or
experimental stage. Since the original design and the setting up
of the first completed motor in July, 1917, a large number of
changes have been found necessary, many of them causing delay in
reaching quantity production. Within the last two months changes
of considerable importance have been made which, it is hoped,
will make the motor serviceable for combat planes of the
defensive type and for bombing and observation planes.

Twenty-two thousand five hundred Liberty motors have been
ordered, 122 have been completed for the army, and 142 for the
navy. Four have been shipped overseas. Some of those already
delivered are being altered to overcome the defects ascertained
during the last few weeks. It is understood, however, that these
alterations will consume but a very short time.