I need an A!! lol

Austria-Hungary's Ultimatum to Serbia

On the 31st of March, 1909, the Serbian Minister in Vienna, on the instructions of the Serbian Government, made the following declaration to the Imperial and Royal Government: "Serbia recognizes that the fait accompli regarding Bosnia has not affected her rights and consequently she will conform to the decisions that the Powers may take in conformity with Article 25 of the Treaty of Berlin. In deference to the advice of the Great Powers, Serbia undertakes to renounce from now onwards the attitude of protest and opposition which she has adopted with regard to the annexation since last autumn. She undertakes, moreover, to modify the direction of her policy with regard to Austria-Hungary and to live in future on good neighbourly terms with the latter." The history of recent years, and in particular the painful events of the 28th of June last, have shown the existence of a subversive movement with the object of detaching a part of the territories of Austria-Hungary from the Monarchy. The movement, which had its birth under the eye of the Serbian Government, has gone so far as to make itself manifest on both sides of the Serbian frontier in the shape of acts of terrorism and a series of outrages and murders. Far from carrying out the formal undertakings contained in the declaration of the 31st of March, 1909, the Royal Serbian Government has done nothing to repress these movements. It has permitted the criminal machinations of various societies and associations directed against the Monarchy, and has tolerated unrestrained language on the part of the press, the glorification of the perpetrators of outrages, and the participation of officers and functionaries in subversive agitation. It has permitted an unwholesome propaganda in public instruction; in short, it has permitted all manifestations of a nature to incite the Serbian population to hatred of the Monarchy and contempt of its institutions. This culpable tolerance of the Royal Serbian Government had not ceased at the moment when the events of the 28th of June last proved its fatal consequences to the whole world. It results from the depositions and confessions of the criminal perpetrators of the outrage of the 28th of June that the Serajevo assassinations were planned in Belgrade; that the arms and explosives with which the murderers were provided had been given to them by Serbian officers and functionaries belonging to the Narodna Odbrana; and finally, that the passage into Bosnia of the criminals and their arms was organized and effected by the chiefs of the Serbian frontier service. The above-mentioned results of the magisterial investigation do not permit the Austro-Hungarian Government to pursue any longer the attitude of expectant forbearance which they have maintained for years in face of the machinations hatched in Belgrade, and thence propagated in the territories of the Monarchy. The results, on the contrary, impose on them the duty of putting an end to the intrigues which form a perpetual menace to the tranquillity of the Monarchy. To achieve this end the Imperial and Royal Government see themselves compelled to demand from the Royal Serbian Government a formal assurance that they condemn this dangerous propaganda against the Monarchy; in other words the whole series of tendencies, the ultimate aim of which is to detach from the Monarchy territories belonging to it and that they undertake to suppress by every means this criminal and terrorist propaganda. In order to give a formal character to this undertaking the Royal Serbian Government shall publish on the front page of their "Official Journal" of the 13-26 of July the following declaration: "The Royal Government of Serbia condemn the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary - i.e., the general tendency of which the final aim is to detach from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy territories belonging to it, and they sincerely deplore the fatal consequences of these criminal proceedings. The Royal Government regret that Serbian officers and functionaries participated in the above-mentioned propaganda and thus compromised the good neighbourly relations to which the Royal Government were solemnly pledged by their declaration of the 31st of March, 1909. The Royal Government, who disapprove and repudiate all idea of interfering or attempting to interfere with the destinies of the inhabitants of any part whatsoever of Austria-Hungary, consider it their duty formally to warn officers and functionaries, and the whole population of the Kingdom, that henceforward they will proceed with the utmost rigor against persons who may be guilty of such machinations, which they will use all their efforts to anticipate and suppress." This declaration shall simultaneously be communicated to the Royal army as an order of the day by His Majesty the King and shall be published in the "Official Bulletin" of the army. The Royal Serbian Government shall further undertake: (1) To suppress any publication which incites to hatred and contempt of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the general tendency of which is directed against its territorial integrity; (2) To dissolve immediately the society styled "Narodna Odbrana," to confiscate all its means of propaganda, and to proceed in the same manner against other societies and their branches in Serbia which engage in propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The Royal Government shall take the necessary measures to prevent the societies dissolved from continuing their activity under another name and form; (3) To eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, both as regards the teaching body and also as regards the methods of instruction, everything that serves, or might serve, to foment the propaganda against Austria-Hungary; (4) To remove from the military service, and from the administration in general, all officers and functionaries guilty of propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy whose names and deeds the Austro-Hungarian Government reserve to themselves the right of communicating to the Royal Government; (5) To accept the collaboration in Serbia of representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Government for the suppression of the subversive movement directed against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy; (6) To take judicial proceedings against accessories to the plot of the 28th of June who are on Serbian territory; delegates of the Austro-Hungarian Government will take part in the investigation relating thereto; (7) To proceed without delay to the arrest of Major Voija Tankositch and of the individual named Milan Ciganovitch, a Serbian State employee, who have been compromised by the results of the magisterial inquiry at Serajevo; (8) To prevent by effective measures the cooperation of the Serbian authorities in the illicit traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier, to dismiss and punish severely the officials of the frontier service at Shabatz Loznica guilty of having assisted the perpetrators of the Serajevo crime by facilitating their passage across the frontier; (9) To furnish the Imperial and Royal Government with explanations regarding the unjustifiable utterances of high Serbian officials, both in Serbia and abroad, who, notwithstanding their official position, have not hesitated since the crime of the 28th of June to express themselves in interviews in terms of hostility to the Austro-Hungarian Government; and, finally, (10) To notify the Imperial and Royal Government without delay of the execution of the measures comprised under the preceding heads. The Austro-Hungarian Government expect the reply of the Royal Government at the latest by 5 o'clock on Saturday evening the 25th of July. (See Note 1) (Note 1) The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in a private letter on the 24th of July sent to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs the following correction: "In the copy of the dispatch which I had the honour to send to your Excellency this morning, it was said that my Government expected an answer from the Cabinet at Belgrade at latest by 5 o'clock on the evening of Saturday the 25th of this month. As our Minister at Belgrade did not deliver his note yesterday until 6 o'clock in the evening, the time allowed for the answer has in consequence been prolonged to 6 o'clock to-morrow, Saturday evening. I consider it my duty to inform your Excellency of this slight alteration in the termination of the period fixed for the answer to the Serbian Government." The Serbian Reply (Preamble) ...[Serbia] cannot be held responsible for manifestations of a private character, such as articles in the press and the peaceable work of societies ... [The Serbian government] have been pained and surprised at the statements, according to which members of the Kingdom of Serbia are supposed to have participated in the preparations of the crime... [However, Serbia is] prepared to hand over for trial any Serbian subject . .of whose complicity in the crime of Sarajevo proofs are forthcoming [as well as officially condemn all propaganda against A-H]. [Serbia will] introduce ... a provision into the press law providing for the most severe punishment of incitement to hatred and contempt of the [A-H] Monarchy... [The Serbian govt.] possesses no proof ... that the Narodna Odbrana and other similar societies have committed up to the present any criminal act of this nature ... Nevertheless, [Serbia] will ... dissolve the Narodna Obrana and every other society which... [Serbia will] eliminate without delay from public instruction ... everything that serves or might serve to foment the propaganda against [A-H], whenever [Austria] furnish them with facts and proofs... [Serbia] also agree to remove from the military service all such persons as the judicial inquiry may have proved to be guilty of acts directed against the integrity of the territory of [A-H], and they expect [Austria] to communicate ... the names and acts of these officers for the purpose of the proceedings which are to be taken against them. [The Serbian govt. does] not clearly grasp the meaning or the scope of the demand ... that Serbia shall undertake to accept the collaboration of the representatives of [A-H], but they declare that they will admit such collaboration as agrees with the principle of international law, with criminal procedure, and with good neighbourly relations. ...As regards the participation in this inquiry [which Serbia intends to hold] of Austro-Hungarian agents... [Serbia] cannot accept such an arrangement, as it would be a violation of the Constitution... [States it has not yet been possible to arrest one of the persons named; request proofs of guilt from Austria] [agrees to reinforce measures against illegal trafficking of arms and explosives across the frontier with Bosnia-Herzegovina] [offers explanations of anti-Austrian comments by Serb officials if Austria sends examples of their actually having been made] [Serbia will duly notify the measures taken, but if Austria is not satisfied with the reply] the Serbian government . . are ready . . to accept a pacific understanding, either by referring this question to the decision of the International Tribunal of the Hague [i.e., the World Court], or to the Great Powers...

Modern History Sourcebook:

Vladimir Illyich Lenin:

What is to be Done, 1902

In this text, Lenin makes his argument for a coherent, strictly controlled party of dedicated revolutionaries as a basic necessity for a revolution. Some have seen an anlogy with the Jesuit Order in his proposals for an elite corps to lead the masses. One may see in Lenin's proposals a deep insight into to necessary requisites for a revolution, or a deep contempt for the working classes.

The history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own effort, is able to develop only trade union consciousness, i.e, it may itself realise the necessity for combining in unions, for fighting against the employers and for striving to compel the government to pass necessary labour legislation, etc. The theory of socialism, however, grew out of the philosophic, historical and economic theories that were elaborated by the educated representatives of the propertied classes, the intellectuals. According to their social status, the founders of modern scientific socialism, Marx and Engels, themselves belonged to the bourgeois intelligentsia. Similarly, in Russia, the theoretical doctrine of Social Democracy [Note: By "social democracy" Lenin means revolutionary political Marxism, not the later concept of "moderate" socialism] arose quite independently of the spontaneous growth of the labour movement; it arose as a natural and inevitable outcome of the development of ideas among the revolutionary socialist intelligentsia. At the time of which we are speaking, i.e., the middle of the nineties, this doctrine not only represented the completely formulated programme of the Emancipation of Labour group, but had already won the adherence of the majority of the revolutionary youth in Russia.

***

It is only natural that a Social Democrat, who conceives the political struggle as being identical with the "economic struggle against the employers and the government," should conceive of an "organisation of revolutionaries" as being more or less identical with an "organisation of workers." And this, in fact, is what actually happens; so that when we talk about organisation, we literally talk in different tongues. I recall a conversation I once had with a fairly consistent Economist, with whom I had not been previously acquainted. We were discussing the pamphlet Who Will Make the Political Revolution? and we were very soon agreed that the principal defect in that brochure was that it ignored the question of organisation. We were beginning to think that we were in complete agreement with each other-but as the conversation proceeded, it became clear that we were talking of different things. My interlocutor accused the author of the brochure just mentioned of ignoring strike funds, mutual aid societies, etc.; whereas I had in mind an organisation of revolutionaries as an essential factor in "making" the political revolution. After that became clear, I hardly remember a single question of importance upon which I was in agreement with that Economist!

What was the source of our disagreement? The fact that on questions of organisation and politics the Economists are forever lapsing from Social Democracy into trade unionism. The political struggle carried on by the Social Democrats is far more extensive and complex than the economic struggle the workers carry on against the employers and the government. Similarly (and indeed for that reason), the organisation of a revolutionary Social­Democratic Party must inevitably differ from the organisations of the workers designed for the latter struggle. A workers' organisation must in the first place be a trade organisation; secondly, it must be as wide as possible; and thirdly, it must be as public as conditions will allow (here, and further on, of course, I have only autocratic Russia in mind). On the other hand, the organisations of revolutionaries must consist first and foremost of people whose profession is that of a revolutionary (that is why I speak of organisations of revolutionaries, meaning revolutionary Social Democrats). In view of this common feature of the members of such an organisation, all distinctions as between workers and intellectuals, and certainly distinctions of trade and profession, must be obliterated. Such an organisation must of necessity be not too extensive and as secret as possible.

***

I assert:

that no movement can be durable without a stable organisation of leaders to maintain continuity;

that the more widely the masses are spontaneously drawn into the struggle and form the basis of the movement and participate in it, the more necessary is it to have such an organisation, and the more stable must it be (for it is much easier for demogogues to sidetrack the more backward sections of the masses);

that the organisation must consist chiefly of persons engaged in revolutionary activities as a profession;

that in a country with an autocratic government, the more we restrict the membership of this organisation to persons who are engaged in revolutionary activities as a profession and who have been professionally trained in the art of combating the political police, the more difficult will it be to catch the organisation, and

the wider will be the circle of men and women of the working class or of other classes of society able to join the movement and perform active work in it....

The active and widespread participation of the masses will not suffer; on the contrary, it will benefit by the fact that a "dozen" experienced revolutionaries, no less professionally trained than the police, will centralise all the secret side of the work-prepare leaflets, work out approximate plans and appoint bodies of leaders for each urban district, for each factory district and to each educational institution, etc. (I know that exception will be taken to my "undemocratic" views, but I shall reply to this altogether unintelligent objection later on.) The centralisation of the more secret functions in an organisation of revolutionaries will not diminish, but rather increase the extent and the quality of the activity of a large number of other organisations intended for wide membership and which, therefore, can be as loose and as public as possible, for example, trade unions, workers' circles for self-education and the reading of illegal literature, and socialist and also democratic circles for all other sections of the population. etc, etc We must have as large a number as possible of such organisations having the widest possible variety of functions, but it is absurd and dangerous to confuse those with organisations of revolutionaries, to erase the line of demarcation between them, to dim still more the masses already incredibly hazy appreciation of the fact that in order to "serve" the mass movement we must have people who will devote themselves exclusively to Social Democratic activities, and that such people must train themselves patiently and steadfastly to be professional revolutionaries.

Aye, this appreciation has become incredibly dim. The most grievous sin we have committed in regard to organisation is that by our primitiveness we have lowered the prestige o revolutionaries in Russia. A man who is weak and vacillating on theoretical questions, who has a narrow outlook who makes excuses for his own slackness on the ground that the masses are awakening spontaneously; who resembles a trade union secretary more than a people's tribune, who is unable to conceive of a broad and bold plan, who is incapable of inspiring even his opponents with respect for himself, and who is inexperienced and clumsy in his own professional art-the art of combating the political police-such a man is not a revolutionary but a wretched amateur!

Let no active worker take offense at these frank remarks, for as far as insufficient training is concerned, I apply them first and foremost to myself. I used to work in a circle that set itself great and all­embracing tasks; and every member of that circle suffered to the point of torture from the realisation that we were proving ourselves to be amateurs at a moment in history when we might have been able to say, paraphrasing a well­known epigram: "Give us an organisation of revolutionaries, and we shall overturn the whole of Russia!"

From, V.I. Lenin: "What is to Be Done?", Lenin: Collected Works Vol V, pp. 375-76, 451-53, 464-67

Modern History Sourcebook:
Private Donald Fraser,
Canadian Expeditionary Force:
Selections from My Daily Journal, 1915-1916

Selections, September 1915

We made our first trip to the firing line with rations, etc. for the 28th Battalion.

The night is dark, wet and boisterous and we feel cold and shivery all over. Nevertheless we leave the school, pass the Chateau and halt beside H'Quarters, formerly the residence of the Belgian doctor. The house is in fairly good repair, only several panes of glass being broken and a few chips taken out of the building, whilst the garden possesses a souvenir or two in the shape of shell-holes. We line up for our loads, my particular one being sandbags. Being a bit green and confident of my powers I tell the fellow who is loading to chuck some more on my shoulder. Frisk, a Swede, who was behind me, not to be outdone accepted a bigger pile. We had not gone very far when we were sorry we had spoken. We had to go about three hundred yards across the open before we struck the communication trench which rejoiced in the Latin appellation of "Via Gellia." The path was muddy and slippery which added to our trials. At the entrance to the trench a fellow ahead of me slipped and fell into a ditch. The air was blue with rich language for the next few moments. The trench led through a hedge then zigzagged for a few hundred yards. By this time it began to deepen and stray bullets were hitting earth especially near an old haystack close by. A little further on the trench was six to seven feet deep so we were fairly safe from rifle fire.

Our loads were becoming troublesome falling off our shoulders and the Ross rifle inclining outwards, the muzzle now and then would catch on the side of the trench clogging up with mud. We had to rest frequently but not for long. Dead Cow Corner was passed and at Beaver Hat we entered the skeleton remains of a belt of wood. Bullets were cracking in the trees. Strong Point 11 was soon passed. From here the trench began to wind up the base of the Wytschaete Ridge. On our right the support line branched off. A hundred and fifty yards further on we file into a trench without trench mats near a couple of crosses denoting the graves of former occupants. We are now only a few hundred yards away from the enemy so we move quietly up to the appointed dump in the front line. There is a perfect hiss of bullets overhead and a peculiar hum from those that ricochet. Our own men are firing in return and every bay gives forth a crack, crack. It is the custom as soon as darkness sets in for both sides to keep up a more or less continuous fire at each other's trenches, to keep one another from attacking and also, to keep patrols from No Man's Land. It also shows that one is awake and there is not the same chance of being taken by surprise. The tendency when firing in the dark is to fire high with the result that the majority of the bullets go fringing over the trenches, maybe to find a victim two thousand yards behind; many men get killed in this fashion. It shows, therefore, how risky it is moving around in the open within rifle range. . .

Tonight we had our introduction to dug-out life. The dug-outs were small, damp and cold and overrun with rats. It is needless to add once a fighting soldier leaves England he practically sleeps in his clothes till he gets back there again. Taking off our boots, there were three of us in the dug-out, we lay down between our waterproof sheet and overcoat and snatched as many winks as we could. There is a change of sentry every two hours, so the chances are you get wakened up between the shifts, either by your mate getting up or coming in or being wakened by mistake for guard. To interrupt your prospective slumbers, sometimes, the order to "stand to" for the night comes along which means you have to hold yourseif in readiness for eventualities, in other words, you have to be wide awake with equipment on, etc. An order to "stand to" is equivalent to expecting an attack. Many a time we wished those attacks would materialize so that we could get a half decent sleep afterwards. At sunrise and sunset there is a "stand to" every day, these being the times the enemy is liable to come over. When the order is given everyone is supposed to get out of his dug-out; get his equipment on and have his rifle handy. "Stand down" is usually passed along half an hour to an hour afterwards, when the day shifts start. In the daytime two or three guards are considered sufficient to keep watch.

We notice our rations are increased but there is no variety---tea, bread, hard biscuits, butter, jam, bacon, bully-beef, maconochie, fresh meat, cheese, rice, dried vegetables. These are the supplies but they are not of daily occurrence. It may be tinned food one day and fresh meat the next and so on. It is general knowledge that rations are increased when we go into the line. The rum we heard so much about came up tonight. We are given a tot--a few teaspoonsful either at night or early morning. It is much appreciated as it helps the circulation which gets very slow these cold nights for want of movement....The way our old soldiers, physical drill instructors, bayonet fighting instructors disappeared under the stress of battle to realms of easier work was a great disappointment to us. To instance a few cases. When the 31st became a battalion, the Regt. Sgt.-Maj. was a man named B__. He was one of the mainstays of the 103rd Calgary Rifles and naturally interested in military work. He was very insistent that we smarten up and be soldiers. His part of soldiering, however, was spent in England. He took good care to stay on the safe side of the Channel. As Sgt.-Maj. of our company--a hero of a hundred fights you would fancy him to be if you listened to his conversation--he wore four ribbons for service in Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and was a faddist on bayonet fighting. In England, he used to tap his side gently and remark that this, alluding to his revolver, was for N.C.O.s who refused to go over the top. I only saw this fire-eater pay a visit to the trenches once. I gave him the periscope to look through. He was very uneasy and had a half-hearted glance through it, slinking back to H'Qrs. a few minutes afterwards. This seasoned warrior obtained a commission and in addition managed to get back to Canada. I noticed his picture very nearly the central figure in a group of War Veterans, taken before their quarters on 9th Ave., Calgary.

During the day, if we are not on day duty, we are almost certain to be building dug-outs or fixing up the trenches, so our stretches of sleep even in the best and quietest of times is of short duration. If the line is quiet and the command does not anticipate trouble, two sentries can doze in their dug-out. The man on guard stands on the firing step and peers over the bags for any movement in No Man's Land at the same lime listening intently for any sounds. The ears are more dependable when it is dark than the eyes. The touching of the wire, the stumbling against old tins, or the swishing noise of the grasses moving are apt to give a raider or patrol away. Unless on the skyline, it is difficult picking up anyone moving till they are almost on you. If you are suspicious, the usual thing is to get someone to fire a flare over the particular spot. A good sentry does not move much but keeps to a certain spot remaining mute for a considerable time and shows very little of his head. He is better able to detect and, what is of as much importance, he is less liable to be seen than a man who is moving around the bay. The majority of fellows, however, do not worry. They pass most of their time sitting on the firing step smoking the pipe of peace, with an occasional glance over the parapet. As a rule one can size up affairs pretty good. If Fritz is sending up star shells pretty frequently you can depend upon it his patrols or raiders are not out. If his riflemen are pinging bullets in our direction and they are low, you can rest easy in the belief that his men are behind his parapet. It is when his lights are not going up often or his shooting is nil or high, you should be suspicious and on the alert. It is then he is either up to mischief, making a relief or has fatigue parties out in front fixing up his wire.

A dull pop from the opponent's lines and one immediately scans the horizon for a trench mortar. In ordinary times such noises would escape one's attention. The German little fish tail bomb starts its course through the air with a swish, swish and makes a peculiar noise like wa-wa. Excepting high velocity shells, one has a fair indication of direction when he hears the report of the gun. Rifle grenades, when fired during shelling, are difficult to detect. I often wonder that when trench mortar companies intend throwing over their shells, they do not get the artillery to kick up a noise so as their opponents will have to rely solely on their sight to pick up what is going to happen.

At this stage it may be well to mention what the ordinary infantryman in the firing line has to go through and what his nerves have to stand. Old No Man's Land had an average width of 150 to 250 yds.; in many parts of the line it would come as close as 35 to 75 yds. As a rule, the narrower No Man's Land, the weaker the wire. The distance between is so little that fixing up wire is impossible. Ready-made wiring obstacles have to be thrown over and, of course, they cannot be expected to be very effective. In fact, later on, Fritz had the audacity to fix on one of our wiring obstacles and pulled it on to his own side. Anyway, besides being liable to be shelled at any moment, the man in the firing line is liable to have bombs, grenades and trench mortar bombs thrown at him. Machine-guns may open up and rip the sand bags at pleasure. Clamped rifles go off every now and then, trained at likely spots the infantryman has to pass. Any moment a swarm of Huns may rush him. He is liable to be blown up by a mine tunnelled underneath the trench. On dark nights the enemy could crawl into his trench without being seen. It is the same when it is foggy. He exists under these conditions, wet or dry, often in mud and slush over the knees and almost frozen with the cold. Sometimes he sleeps on the firing step or in the bottom of the trench with practically no covering or protection. When he gets wet, his clothes have to dry on him--at times he is worked off his feet digging, draining, making dug-outs, carrying timber, corrugated iron, etc. and has to run the gauntlet of being sniped on many occasions. Knowing that any moment he may be hurled into oblivion, his nerves are keyed to a certain pitch and his existence is one of suspense. No wonder the average man's stay in the trenches is a few months. Unfortunately these men who brave such dangers daily, hourly, have nothing to show for it. A Canadian in England gets service stripes the same as he does, not so the British Tommy. A Brigade runner, who once in a while reaches the line, stands a better chance of a decoration. Hangers-on who are seldom within the fighting area and who sleep comfortably and soundly at night and can do their own cooking, get all the medals or clasps they are entitled to. It is high time some distinction was made between the actual fighting man and his numerous knockers in khaki who take practically no risk at all.

We have been out all day fixing up the communication trench which has collapsed owing to the recent rains. From now on "Via Gellia" keeps us busy when out on rest. The weather had changed completely, raining almost daily and the ground is in a sodden condition. For want of sunshine and wind, it is impossible for the ground to dry up and after a while we learn that it is useless trying to keep the trenches passable. The rain loosens the earth and the sides cave in. With additional rain the bottom of the trenches become liquid mud which defies all efforts at drainage. We shovel, shovel and keep on shovelling but it is of no avail, the trench absolutely refuses to clean up. It is a hard proposition, the mud sticks to the shovel and after vigorous efforts to dislodge it, it only comes off to fall into the trench again. In time the bank becomes so high that we cannot fling the mud up so we have to get up on top and in a crouching attitude shove the mud further back, terracing it so as to ease the ground pressure and keep it from sliding down. In wet weather it is stupendous work and is about as hopeless as shovelling water. When a little progress is made posts are driven into the trench and are strengthened by being connected by wire with smaller posts on the parados. The sides are now revetted with corrugated iron which is placed behind the posts being kept in position by them and thus keep the sides from caving in. The pressure of earth, however, is often so great that it bulges the corrugated iron or snaps the posts. One can imagine, therefore, the enormous amount of revetting that is required and the immensity of work in connection with it.

The bottom of the trench has to have the trench boards raised above the water or mud so that one can move up and down quickly. These boards are roughly 1« to 2 feet wide and from 5 to 8 feet long. They consist of a couple of deals with strips of wood laid crossways. These trench or duck boards are laid on a couple of supporting trestles. Through usage or faulty positioning, many fellows, in the dark, become croppers by stepping on the edge when the board tips or slips and down they go. Often some of the strips are missing or broken and down goes the unfortunate soldier. In some cases the trenches are wide and at night it takes some juggling keeping on the boards. Step to the side and down in the mud you go. On a dark night it is quite a problem manoeuvring along these boards. Without them it would be almost impossible to reach the front line. Later on, we spend about a couple of days trying to drain "Via Gellia" a few yards from the firing line. There was quite a slope and we thought the mud would run if we could only get it started. We had rubber boots on and were up to our thighs in the stuff. It was too soft to shovel out and yet the darned thing was not watery enough to flow. This part of the trench we gave up as hopeless. It was only in March, when the ground began to dry, that the trench became passable. What we failed to achieve Dame Nature did.

For four months we were continuously wrestling with trenches and dug-outs, shovelling, draining, ditching, digging, revetting, filling sandbags, carrying timber, corrugated iron, etc. When in reserve almost every night, as soon as darkness set in, we had to hike to the Engineer's dump at Kemmel and carry stuff up the line. We were usually too early at the dump and lay around in the mud and rain for half an hour to an hour waiting for the arrival of the Engineer. Orders called for our presence at a certain time and orders had to be obeyed. Meanwhile we would hang around, too often soaked to the skin and our clothes and equipment as heavy as lead, waiting at the side of the road for word to load up and move on. These working parties were a regular nightmare. Often when we were figuring on a fine rest, word would come along telling us to get ready for fatigue immediately. Wearily and with many complaints we would get up, get our goat skins on, equipment, rifle, and lastly our raincoat. If it drizzled the raincoat was admirable, but if it rained it soaked up the wet like blotting paper and sent a perfect stream of water down our thighs and legs. With a view to improving matters many fellows cut several inches off the coat but it did not help. Others substituted the waterproof sheet for it. Anyway, night after night in mud and rain saw us squatting around Kemmel, shivering to the bone, waiting to set out with our loads for the line. . . .

At the break of day, Gen. Turner, the commander of the 2nd Division, came down the line from the 27th direction and stopped to question Sgt. Boyd regarding the units on his flanks. He also enquired if the boys had their rations and rum. He was up looking over the line with a view to consolidating the position. Whatever plans he had formulated were never properly executed for Fritz shortly afterwards started shelling; the fire intensifying later and developing as the time went on, so that no opportunity was given for trench work. At 9:30 a.m. prompt the hostile artillery began to speak and by noon it was raging in all its fury. Shrapnel came pouring over the lines in a ceaseless whine, interrupted only by the crumps of 4.3s and 5.9s [shells]. From every direction this fire storm was turned upon us. Every gun within range seemed to have cut loose and the very gates of hell let open. Overhead bursts, then deadly sprays of shrapnel, were showered into our midst. Heavy shells rocked the earthworks and buried their occupants. The artillery concentration was tremendous and the range was painfully accurate. Imperials, who had been at Loos and previous battles, never experienced such a concentrated fire on so small a frontage. There seemed to be a nest of batteries on the northern flank. Men were digging in feverishly to escape this blast of iron, but to no avail. The bombers were the first to suffer and before long half of them were casualties. Crater 7 quickly became untenable and the survivors stole along to crater 6 for protection, but it was only going from the frying pan to the fire.

Sgt. Wilson of the bombers, one of our Company, was struck down early in the day. He lay there till darkness set in before he could be got at and removed. His injuries were fearful yet no one could succour him, his arm being almost blown off and bodily wounds besides. He was ultimately removed but succumbed later. The Cpl. of the bombers, George, who had found a German rifle and had taken it to the supports for safe-keeping intending to take it out as a souvenir, was returning to his post when a shell burst almost upon him, mortally wounding him and injuring an officer, who fled out to the dressing station. George, when dying, requested the boys to tell his parents "that he had died like a soldier. " He left a widow and a child he had never seen. The second sergeant, with three or four bombers, was sent up to reinforce his badly stricken comrades, bursting into the crater in the face of heavy fire. But they could not stick it, they soon began to fall. Before being relieved the enemy had taken its toll. Tom Smith going to the assistance of a wounded man was sniped at receiving an explosive bullet in the arm and shattering it completely, returning to Calgary several months later, an amputation case. Blackie Sayce had his arm almost torn off and is disabled for life. Hannan was also wounded and both bombing officers were casualties. L/Cpl. Dalziel, 6 ft. 2 ins. of humanity, finally came out of the shambles, leading the remaining bombers with an enhanced reputation. For his gallant work he was awarded the D.C.M., but never knew of the honour, for the day it appeared in orders, he was killed in the Canadian Battle Of Ypres. Meanwhile the company was gradually being wiped out as shell after shell burst burying and unburying dead and living. The fire was so murderous that it was impossible to live under it. It was a miracle that anyone emerged alive.

One saddening case was a stretcher bearer near half a dozen dead Tommies, a little to the right of the trench leading to crater 7. He was sitting with a bandage between his hands in the very act of bandaging his leg, when his life gave out, and his head fell back, his mouth open, and his eyes gazing up to heaven, as if in piteous appeal. There he sat in a natural posture as if in life, the bandage in his hands, and the Red Cross bag by his side. Lovett was his name, and he belonged to the King's Liverpool. Another strange, appalling spectacle was a couple of Tommies sitting on the firing step; the head of one had fallen forward on his chest, and between his fingers he still held a cigarette. There he was as if asleep, yes, but in a sleep that knows no awakening. His comrade beside him was in a sitting position but inclining sideways. Both were unmarked and must have met their doom by concussion.

In the support line an Imperial with a Balaclava cap on was lying on a stretcher, dead. Eight bodies of British soldiers were collected in the crater for burial, when a shell came over and burst amongst them, plastering Webber and Doull with gangrened flesh. At daybreak one of the bombers was shocked to find himself standing between a dead German and an English officer, whilst close by was a German private and English Tommy. What trench mats there were seemed to rest on bodies. One could not dig anywhere without coming across a human corpse. Huddled together amongst the dead our men passed their lonely vigil in the early hours of April 4th. "Amidst life is death" was indelibly printed on the minds of everyone present on that fateful morning.

It rained practically all the time we were there, making movement almost impossible. The artillery concentration was too much for us and what attacks were engineered on our side were on a ridiculously small scale. There was not much display of generalship. Affairs ran themselves. Our men hung on till they were completely wiped out by shell fire. Unfortunately, though the opposing artillery held us, ours could not restrain them from attacking. Those who were in the center of the conflict quickly realized that the positions were impossible, that they were untenable, and casualties would have been saved by withdrawing, but the command only realized this several days later when the whole line was lost, and then they ceased aggressive action. St. Eloi taught us a lesson, a lesson the ordinary soldier through bitter experience quickly learned; namely, that it spells disaster to attack over a small frontage, for it allows the enemy artillery to concentrate its fire. The Canadian command, however, failed to grasp this significance and the same errors were repeated at Fresnoy and Lens. Objectives at those places were taken but we had to retire shortly afterwards, after suffering heavy losses. As usual the command to bolster up their cause would give out the usual announcement that we inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, when all the time the engagements were rank failures.

About 2:00 p.m. of the 19th the enemy started shelling, principally with light stuff. After a pause he reopened with heavies creating a number of casualties. Later on a bombardment of terrific intensity commenced and heavy casualties were created, many of the wounded were killed, and shelters smashed in. The gunfire switched to Crater 7 and shortly afterwards rifle fire opened up from the opposing craters and when it died down fifty to sixty Germans started across. It was raining and our men were glued in the mud. The survivors were in no condition to offer fight being dazed and shell shocked. The rifles were clogged and useless, only two or three being capable of firing. These commenced but the feeble fire soon died away. By this time the enemy were into Crater 7 and our men had their hands up surrendering. The order was given to those in Crater 6 to retire if they wished but only five did so, the rest being disinclined to take the risk. Out of this number, two were wounded. Along with a wounded officer they regained their lines, but only one man got back untouched. Thus ended the closing tragedy of the craters whose garrison of ninety men were practically all killed or taken prisoners. The Germans did not occupy the ground but left it to the dead.

For the last few days, shelling was more constant than usual but no prominence was given to this for the Ypres salient is at all times stormy and every battalion that takes up its abode in this stricken field usually returns to a more peaceful front very much attenuated in numbers. In these days it was a byword amongst the men that one was not a soldier unless he had served on the Ypres front. Since the fall of 1914 till armistice was declared this countryside has been bathed in blood. Here have fallen thousands of our best manhood. Many a soldier grievously wounded has staggered back plastered with mud and blood from head to foot and dazed almost beyond reckoning. The traffic in human flesh in this region is scandalous. Thousands pass up to the line, returning shortly afterwards completely shattered. It will always be a debatable point--was the salient worth holding? The Germans themselves had a dread of this front. The mention of Ypres conveyed a sort of horror to them. It had always sinister forebodings of death. . . .

About 6:00 a.m. of June 2, General Mercer, the 3rd Divisional General and Brigadier Williams of the 8th Brigade, with a few of their staff set out for battalion headquarters, which they reached about 8:00 o'clock. A few minutes later they started for the line and on the way up the comparative stillness of the morning was broken by a crash from the enemy's guns as a torrent of metal came streaming down on our trenches. The success at St. Eloi had taught the Hun the advantages of intensive fire and he prepared himself accordingly. His plans were laid; our trenches had been registered upon with an artillery accumulation and he simply sailed into us and we soon floundered amidst the wreckage of obliterated trenches, smashed dugouts and torn sandbags. Our men simply melted away under this tornado. In less than no time the ground was strewn with the remains of the mangled and the dying. The survivors, few in number, tried to creep away. It was in this inferno that the Generals were caught. Enveloped in shell fire, the Brigadier was wounded and when the enemy came over, captured. General Mercer tried to win his way back, but he never got further than Armagh Wood for there his body was found several days later with three wounds in it. He was buried at Poperinghe, a village where, in the old cemetery on the western side of the Reninghelst-Poperinghe Road, lie the mortal remains of Colonels Hart-Machary and Boyle of the 7th and 10th Battalions respectively, killed more than a year previously in the Second Battle of Ypres.

The fire continued for about four hours and when resistance was considered broken the Germans emerged from their trenches in the southwest carrying packs and overcoat, and advanced in several waves. After pulverizing our front line the artillery lifted and barraged the supports and approaches, creating heavy casualties in the communications lines. Our supports held but if the enemy had never made the common error of easing up when the road was clear and the line confused, they could have advanced much further. As it was they threw away their opportunity and gave us time to rush up reserves. It is said some of their patrol penetrated as far as Zillebeke, but were beaten back in skirmishes, paying the penalty in full for their rashness. Though the attack started on the right it gradually worked its way north and soon the 7th Brigade were in desperate straits. Both C.M.R. battalions had been snowed under and in consequence resistance was weak. The 4th C. M. R. 's had 640 casualties and the 1st fared little better, their trenches being completely flattened and casualty roll 367. The Princess Pats now came in for a gruelling. They resisted valiantly, fighting rearguard bombing actions. Being surrounded, the remnants had to retire to the supports early next morning.

During the retirement two eighteen pounders, sacrifice guns, were lost in Sanctuary Wood. Sacrifice guns are placed in advanced positions to be utilized in case of emergency either for attack or defence. Consequently they are silent, till the moment arrives for special action. It is essential that they refrain from shooting if they wish to escape detection. Being so close up, an imprudent shot would be at once observed and woe to the unfortunate gunners. These guns opened up when the attack started and kept on firing till the enemy appeared over Observatory Ridge. Practically all the gunners were killed. The attack still continued northward but came to a halt opposite the R.C.R.'s. Instead of pushing against a weak line, the enemy made the fatal error of digging in in Armagh and Sanctuary Woods. The Engineers who followed up the infantry quickly had suitable trenches dug.

A counter-attack was planned but it had to be postponed several times because certain units did not reach their jumping off positions. When it was ultimately launched, there was no co-ordinated effort and it failed, nevertheless a few patrols were brushed away and we established ourselves nearer the German line. The members of the battalions participating belonged to the 7th, 10th, 15th, 14th, 52nd, 60th and 49th. The casualties were heavy, the 14th losing nearly 390 men. The attack should never have been delivered. The artillery preparation was poor; the exact positions of the enemy uncertain--- and the time was daylight. In addition there was no cohesion or definite understanding. Our men were met by a withering fire and did the best they could in digging in. The 52nd and 60th were badly cut up in the communication trench having been caught in barrages. The 49th had also a disastrous time getting in. It is estimated over eight thousand took part in the assault. The troops were the Wurttemburg, under the command of the Duke of Wurttemberg and the furthest point they reached was seven hundred yards in the direction of Zillebeke. They captured besides General Williams, Colonel Usher, thirteen officers, 518 non-commissioned officers and men, 168 of whom were wounded. The enemy was now in possession of the Ridge and our left Rank was in the air. Up to this period our losses were about 80 officers and 2,000 men. . . .

Word has just eked out that we are in for our third engagement: first, St. Eloi; second, Third Battle of Ypres; and now the Somme, this time not as defenders, but as aggressors primed up for the event. The announcement that at 6:20 tomorrow morning we would make a charge, co-operating with the Brilish and French created quite a stir. Some looked upon the matter in a serious light, others were indifferent while the remainder treated the whole affair in a humorous vein. A few discussed the mode of attack, chances of success, but the knowing felt and knew that the result depended upon the artillery. Exaggerated tales had reached us that the attacks on the Somme were a series of walkovers and there was nothing for us to do but gather in the spoils. I believe most of us hearing such stories, treated the derences with, if not contempt, at least with levity.

As zero hour approached I glanced around looking for signs to charge. The signal came like a bolt from the blue. Right on the second the barrage opened with a roar that seemed to split the heavens. Looking along the right, about forty yards away, I caught the first glimpse of a khaki-clad figure climbing over the parapet. It was the start of the first wave, the 27th Battalion. More Winnipeg men followed. Then glancing back over the parados I saw Sgt. Teddy Torrens rise up from a shell hole and wave his platoon forward. So quick, however, were the men of the 31stl on the heels of the 27th that when I turned my head, those of my platoon beside Sgt. Hunter were actually up and over the parapet with a good five to ten yards start ahead of me. In a hurry to overtake them and carry the line as even as possible, I was up and over in a trice, running into shell holes, down and up for about twenty yards, until I found that if I continued this procedure and rate, loaded up as I was, I would be exhausted before I could get to grips with Fritz.

It was at this juncture that instinct told me to avoid the shell holes and move along the edges. I raised my head for the first time and looked at the Hun trench, and to my astonishment, saw Heinie after Heinie ranging along the line, up on the firing step, blazing wildly into us, to all appearances unmolested. Seriousness and grim determination took possession of me as I stared hard and menacing at those death-dealing rifles. Strange to say they all seemed to be pointing at me, an illusion but nevertheless that is how it appeared. My eyes were for a moment glued a little ahead to the right on Sgt. Hunter, who was leading with little Lt. Newlands beside him. He appeared a picture heroic in the extreme; his rush had dwindled to practically a walk, and he strode forward with body erect, rifle in the forefront, a target for innumerable shots. As I was fast levelling up on the left, it seemed a thousand miracles that he was not laid low.

My wits sharpened when it burnt deeply into me that death was in the offing. At this stage an ever changing panorama of events passed quickly before my gaze, and my mind was vividly impressed. The air was seething with shells. Immediately above, the atmosphere was cracking with a myriad of machine-gun bullets, startling and disconcerting in the extreme. Bullets from the enemy rifles were whistling and swishing around my ears in hundreds, that to this day I cannot understand how anyone could have crossed that inferno alive. As I pressed forward with eyes strained, to the extent of being half-closed, I expected and almost felt being shot in the stomach All around our men were falling, their rifles loosening from their grasp. The wounded, writhing in their agonies, struggled and toppled into shell holes for safety from rifle and machine-gun fire, though in my path the latter must have been negligible, for a slow or even quick traverse would have brought us down before we reached many yards into No Man's Land. Rifle fire, however, was taking its toll, and on my front and flanks, soldier after soldier was tumbling to disablement or death, and I expected my turn every moment. The transition from life to death was terribly swift.

Halfway across the first wave seemed to melt and we were in front, heading for Fritz, who was firing wildly and frantically, and scared beyond measure as we bore down upon him. Their faces seemed peculiarly foreign to me. Their trench was full and firing strong and as the remnants of us were nearing bombing reach, we almost, as one man, dropped into shell holes, a move wisely done and swiftly executed. Further progress and it is more than likely that we would have stepped into a volley of grenades. At this time, I had the shell hole to myself and took cover behind the left front edge, which was higher than any other part of the lip, and I could see without being seen from the immediate front, the flanks to the Hun line and the left rear right back to our trench. I was hardly down, when a man around the forty mark, medium-sized, well built, with a heavy sandy moustache, of Scandinavian appearance, came up on my left and stopped not a yard away. He seemed to be non-plussed as if wondering what came over those who were ahead of him a moment ago, as it suddenly dawned upon him that he was the nearest moving soldier to Fritz. I will never forget the look of bewilderment which came over his face, but it quickly changed to puzzled thought, as if wondering what to do next, when a rifle bullet caused him to shudder as if he had received an electric shock. In a flash another must have tore into his vitals for he winced with the shock, then his eyes opened wide and a terrified look of despair and helplessness crept over his features, his eyes rolled, and with a heart-rending shriek as he realized his end had come, he fell forward flat on his face, stone dead, almost on top of me.

It all happened in a twinkling, his death practically instantaneous, but that fatal moment, the wincing, the hopeless, piteous look, were indelibly printed on my mind forever. Glancing back I saw waves of men coming on, right away back to the parapet, but they were collapsing right and left and not a single one got as far forward as the remnants our own Company. I saw one poor fellow stretched out, apparently dead, with a bullet wound in the head beside the ear, with a face waxen white, and a line of blood tracing down his cheek and neck. The moment after dropping into shell holes we started sniping. The target was so easy it was impossible to miss. The Huns, not many yards ahead, were up on the firing step, blazing in panic at the advancing men behind us, seemingly with only one thought, namely to stop those moving, and in their fright and fear, forgot our little band lying close at hand. Heiny after Heiny fell back in a heap as we closed upon the triggers.

On my left at the edge of the shell hole, a few inches from my shoulder a little ground flew up, and at once I saw I was observed and that a Fritz had just missed me. Pulling in my rifle I lay quiet. Looking back not a man was moving, the attack had stopped. By this time, Cross and Judge, formerly of the 56th Battalion, had jumped into the shell hole one after the other. Fritz finding no movement across No Man's Land, turned his attention to those nearest his line. Cpl. Recknell, who was in a shell hole about ten yards away on my right and very slightly ahead, got up on his knees and stretching his head, curious to see what was happening ahead, got slung in a second by a rifle bullet, quivered, doubled up and dropped forward, killed instantaneously. He appeared to have been struck in the body. Bobby Bisset, a stocky little Scotsman, who was lying in the same shell hole, crawled up on Recknell, caught him by the shoulders, as if to speak and shake him, and immediately his head fell and he practically lay dead on the top of Charlie. The next instant, adjoining Recknell, still further to the right, another soldier was killed as he peered over the shell hole. It looked like Thiebot. Nearer still and on my right was Grewzelier. He was sniping steadily. I saw him get shot also. Just when he was on the point of firing, a bullet got him and he rolled completely round on his back, stone dead. They were killed within a few moments of each other and I think by the same Hun.

At this lime a strange incident happened; a German, without arms and equipment, climbed over the parapet on my right and ran into No Man's Land, shrieking and waving his arms, apparently stark, staring mad. He ran about twenty-five yards, wheeled round in a circle several times, the circles narrowing each time, then flopped dead. It was a weird and uncanny spectacle and I was held spellbound, watching his cantrips. I do not think any of our men shot him when he was in the open. He seemed to be in his death throes when he clambered over the parapet and reeled into No Man's Land. Thrilling sights passed before my eyes, during what must have been seconds though they could easily have been construed into hours, so great was the tension, and so miraculous was it that I and a few others in this vicinity escaped destruction. Lt. Newlands rose up a little from me and gallantly endeavoured to signal us forward by a sweep of his hand, but the time was inopportune and no one moved. He himself was hardly up, when he was wounded and fell back into the shell hole. In the adjoining shell hole, almost touching ours, Lt. Foster got up almost simultaneously with Newlands and promptly collapsed back again, having been hit in the upper arm or shoulder. Freudemacher jumped in beside him to render first aid. It seemed that Foster was painfully hit, for I could see for a minute or two, an arm waving back and forward above the shell hole, as if he was in pain.

As the attack subsided and not a soul moved in No Man's Land save the wounded twisting and moaning in their agony, it dawned upon me that the assault was a failure and now we were at the mercy of the enemy. It was suicide to venture back and our only hope lay in waiting until darkness set in and then trying to win our way back. During this period of waiting, I expected we would be deluged by bombs, shrapnel and shell fire, and when darkness set in, ravaged by machine-gun fire, altogether a hopeless outlook, especially for our lot, who were lying up against his trench. The situation seemed critical and the chances of withdrawal to safety nigh impossible. So many things had happened, so many lives were snuffed out since I left the comparative safety of our front line, that I lost completely all idea of time. Lying low in the shell hole contemplating events with now and then a side glance at my sandy-moustached comrade, lying dead beside me, his mess tin shining and scintillating on his back, a strange and curious sight appeared. Away to my left rear, a huge gray object reared itself into view, and slowly, very slowly, it crawled along like a gigantic toad, feeling its way across the shell-stricken field. It was a tank, the "Creme de Menthe," the latest invention of destruction and the first of its kind to be employed in the Great War. I watched it coming towards our direction. How painfully slow it travelled. Down and up the shell holes it clambered, a weird, ungainly monster, moving relentlessly forward. Suddenly men from the ground looked up, rose as if from the dead, and running from the flanks to behind it, followed in the rear as if to be in on the kill. The last I saw of it, it was wending its way to the Sugar Refinery. It crossed Fritz's trenches, a few yards from me, with hardly a jolt.

When first observed it gave new life and vigour to our men. Seeing away behind men getting up, and no one falling, I looked up and there met the gaze of some of my comrades in the shell holes. Instinctively I jumped up and quickly, though warily, ran to where I could see into Fritz's trench, with bayonet pointing and finger on the trigger. Running my eyes up and down his trench, ready to shoot if I saw any signs of hostility, and equally on the alert to jump out of view if I saw a rifle pointing at me, it was a tense and exciting moment but I felt marvellously fit and wits extremely acute, for any encounter. I expected opposition and was ready for danger, but a swift glance, and to my amazement, not a German was staring at me, far less being defiant. Down the trench about a hundred yards, several Huns, minus rifles and equipment, got out of their trench and were beating it back over the open, terrified at the approach of the tank. Only a moment sufficed to show that it was safer in the German trench than being up in the open, where one may be sniped, so with a leap I jumped into the trench, almost transfixing myself with my bayonet in the effort.

When I jumped into the trench, the sight I beheld, for sheer bloodiness and murder, baffles description. Apparently our artillery had sent over a last minute shrapnel barrage, for the Huns were terribly mangled about the head and shoulders which coupled with our sniping, completely wiped out every Heiny in the bays in front of us. Everyone of them was either dead or dying and the trench literally was running blood. As each bay contained three to five men, it required no imagination to picture the carnage. In the middle of a bay, a Heiny with a dark, stiff moustache, completely doubled up, was suspended, stuck between the parapet and parados. It seemed a peculiar and strange sight to see this Hun, head and knees almost touching, blocking the trench. A few feet north, at a corner, another Hun lay in the bottom of the trench, his head and face terribly lacerated, feebly groaning to death. Every soldier practically stepped on his face when passing south along the trench. Lying around a bend he was trod on before one was aware of his presence. Several times I ran over him. He appeared to be unconscious and was gasping his last breaths.

A German with ruddy face, clean shaven and intelligent looking, was lying on his back on the firing step, minus equipment, as if he had been placed there. At first I wondered what happened to him for he appeared unmarked. His feet, however, were torn to shreds. He had a pleasant countenance and looked as if he was smiling in death. It was from that I took the Iron Cross ribbon. A typical Hun, big, fat with a double chin, was sitting on the parapet in the south corner of the bay, his stomach so protruding over his thighs that very little of the latter could be seen, stone dead, and not a mark to be seen. There was no shell hole near him, so I conjecture he must have died of fright and not concussion. In the other corner of the bay, reclining back against the parapet, lay a young German, a bullet wound in the head, his face ashen white and with a look as if he sickened to death. How deadly the sprays of metal had done their work, how effective our sniping had been, was plainly discernible. In every bay lay dead and dying Germans, lying in grotesque shapes, and some huddled on the top of each other. Most of them had fearful wounds and the whole line resembled a shambles.

Peace Settlements of 1919-1920

TREATY OF VERSAILLES, 1919 (ended war with Germany; far removed from Woodrow Wilson’s *Fourteen Points on which the armistice had been based)

1. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France

2. Moresnet, Eupen, and Malmedy were ceded to Belgium

3. The Saar basin as placed under international control for 15 years

4. Part of Schleswig was returned to Denmark

5. West Prussia was ceded to Poland (East Prussia separated from Germany)

6. Germany accepted SOLE responsibility for causing World War I (the “war guilt” clause)

7. The German army was limited to 100,000

8. Germany was to pay the total cost of civilian damage in the war; France set the amount at $33,000,000,000.

9. The Rhineland was to be occupied by the Allies for 15 years and then demilitarized

10. Germany was required to turn over to the Allies most of her merchant marine and fishing fleet

11. The *League of Nations was created

TREATY OF SAINT GEMAIN, 1919-1920 (ended war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire)

1. Austria recognized the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia

2. Trentino, South Tyrol ceded to Italy

3. Transylvania and part of the Banat was ceded to Rumania

4. Yugoslavia formed by joining Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina

5. Austria forbidden to unite with Germany except with the express permission of the League of Nations

TREATY OF NEUILLY (ended war with Bulgaria)

1. Bulgaria was stripped of her outlet to the Aegean

2. Bulgaria was forced to recognize Yugoslavia and made to pay reparations

3. Bulgarian army limited

TREATY OF TRIANON, 1920 (ended war with Hungary)

1. Hungary stripped of 75% of her former territory which was divided between Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Rumania

2. Hungarian army limited

TREATY OF SEVRES, 1920 (ended war with Turkey)

1. Arabia was to be independent

2. Armenia became independent

3. Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Iraq became League of Nations mandates, entrusted to England (Turkish nations refused to accept the treaty and revolted, winning minor concessions in 1922)