Albert E. McKinley, Charles A. Coulomb, and Armand J. Gerson - A School History of the Great War

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A SCHOOL HISTORY
OF THE GREAT WAR

BY

ALBERT E. McKINLEY, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

CHARLES A. COULOMB, PH.D.
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA

AND

ARMAND J. GERSON, PH.D.
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA

Copyright, 1918, by

Albert E. McKinley, Charles A. Coulomb,
and Armand J. Gerson

[Transcriber's Note: Certain characters within this text have been
transcribed using the following scheme:

[=x] is equivalent to x with a macron above it;
[)x] is equivalent to x with a breve above it.]

PREFACE

This brief history of the world's greatest war was prepared upon the
suggestion of the National Board for Historical Service. Its purpose is
to expand into an historical narrative the outline of the study of the
war which the authors prepared for the Board and which was published by
the United States Bureau of Education as Teachers' Leaflet No. 4, in
August, 1918. The arrangement of chapters and the choice of topics have
been largely determined by the various headings in the outline for the
course in grades seven and eight.

The authors trust that the simple presentation here given may aid in
developing a national comprehension of the issues involved in the war;
and they hope it may play some part in preparing the American people for
the solution of the great problems which lie immediately before us.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. EUROPE BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 5

II. WHY GERMANY WANTED WAR 27

III. GERMAN MILITARISM 34

IV. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE HAGUE CONFERENCES 38

V. INTERNATIONAL JEALOUSIES AND ALLIANCES 48

VI. THE BALKAN STATES 59

VII. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE GREAT WAR 67

VIII. THE WAR IN 1914 77

IX. THE WAR IN 1915 95

X. THE WAR IN 1916 107

XI. THE WAR IN 1917 118

XII. THE WAR IN 1918 135

XIII. THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR 152

XIV. QUESTIONS OF THE COMING PEACE 168

CHRONOLOGY--Principal Events of the War 181

INDEX 190

A School History of the Great War

CHAPTER I

EUROPE BEFORE THE GREAT WAR

To understand the Great War it is not sufficient to read the daily
happenings of military and naval events as they are told in newspapers
and magazines. We must go back of the facts of to-day and find in
national history and personal ambition the causes of the present
struggle. Years of preparation were necessary before German military
leaders could convert a nation to their views, or get ready the men,
munitions, and transportation for the war they wanted. Conflicts of
races for hundreds of years have made the southeastern part of Europe a
firebrand in international affairs. The course of the Russian revolution
has been determined largely by the history of the Russian people and of
the Russian rulers during the past two centuries. The entrance of
England and Italy into the war against Germany was in each case brought
about by causes which came into existence long before August, 1914. A
person who understands, even in part, the causes of this great
struggle, will be in a better position to realize why America entered
the war and what our nation is fighting for. And better yet, he will be
more ready to take part in settling the many problems of peace which
must come after the war is over. For these reasons, the first few
chapters of this book are devoted to a study of the important facts of
recent European history.

[Illustration: EUROPE IN 1913]

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.--It is remarkable that almost exactly a century
before the present world war, Europe was engaged in a somewhat similar
struggle to prevent an ambitious French general, Napoleon Bonaparte,
from becoming the ruler of all that continent, and of America as well.
He had conquered or intimidated nearly all the states of
Europe--Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, etc.--except Great Britain. He
once planned a great settlement on the Mississippi River, and so alarmed
President Jefferson that the latter said the United States might be
compelled to "marry themselves to the British fleet and nation." But
England's navy kept control of the seas; Napoleon's colony in North
America was never founded; and at last the peoples of Europe rose
against their conqueror, and in the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815,
finally overthrew him.

EUROPE SINCE 1815.--After the downfall of Napoleon the rulers of
Europe met in conference at Vienna and sought to restore conditions as
they had been before the war. They were particularly anxious that the
great masses of the people in their several nations should continue to
respect what was termed "the divine right of kings to rule over their
subjects." They did not, except in Great Britain, believe in
representative governments. They feared free speech and independent
newspapers and liberal educational institutions. They hated all kinds of
popular movements by which the inhabitants of any country might throw
off the monarch's yoke and secure a share in their own government. For
over thirty years the "Holy Allies,"--the name applied to the monarchs
of Austria, Prussia, and Russia,--succeeded tolerably well in keeping
the peoples in subjection. But they had many difficulties to face, and
after 1848 their policy was largely given up.

DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENTS.--During the nineteenth century the people of
Europe were restive under the rule of kings, and gradually governments
controlled in greater or less degree by the people were established.
Almost every decade saw popular uprisings in some of the European
states. About 1820 insurrections occurred in Greece, in Spain, and in
southern Italy; and the Spanish American colonies revolted from the
mother country. In 1830 popular uprisings took place in France, Belgium,
Germany, Poland, and other places. In 1848 a far more serious movement
occurred, which overthrew the French monarchy and established a
republic. From France the flame of liberty lighted fires of insurrection
in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Italy. Similar attempts were made at
later times. As a result of these popular uprisings and of the growing
education of all classes of the people, manhood suffrage and
representative institutions were established in most of the European
states.

NATIONAL ASPIRATIONS.--The Holy Allies had refused to recognize the
right of nations to independent existence. They had bartered peoples and
provinces "as if they were chattels and pawns in a game." But when the
peoples tried to found democratic governments, they often discovered
that the quickest and surest way was to unite under one government all
who belonged to a given nationality. Thus the last hundred years in
Europe has witnessed the erection of a number of new national states
created by throwing off the yoke of some foreign ruler. Among the new
nations thus established were (1) Belgium, freed from the kingdom of
Holland; (2) Greece, Serbia, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Albania, freed from
Turkish rule; (3) Italy, united out of territories controlled by petty
sovereigns and Austrian rulers; (4) Norway, separated from Sweden. The
same period saw also the unification of a number of German states into
the German Empire. But during this time several races were unsuccessful
in obtaining independence, among which we may note the Poles (in Russia,
Prussia, and Austria), the Czechs (checks), or Bohemians (in northern
Austria), the Finns (in the northwestern part of the Russian Empire),
and the Slavic people in the southern part of Austria-Hungary.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.--The nineteenth century was not only a period
of political change in Europe. It was also a time of great changes in
the general welfare of the people. It witnessed a remarkable alteration
in everyday employments and habits. In 1800 a great part of the
population was engaged in agriculture. Manufacturing and commerce were
looked upon as of minor importance. The goods that were produced were
made by hand labor in the workman's own home. Beginning first in England
about 1750 and extending to the Continent between 1820 and 1860, there
came a great industrial change. The steam engine was applied to
spinning, weaving, and countless other operations which previously had
been performed by hand. Steam engines could not of course be installed
in every small cottage; hence a number of machines were put in one
factory to be run by one steam engine. The workers left their small huts
and gardens in the country and came to live in towns and cities. After
the steam engine came steam transportation on land and water. Then
followed an enormous demand for coal, iron, steel, and other metals.
More goods could be produced in the factories than were needed for the
people at home. Hence arose more extended commerce and the search for
foreign markets.

COLONIAL EXPANSION.--In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
Spain, Portugal, France, and England settled the American continents and
parts of Asia. By a series of wars in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries the Dutch secured part of the possessions of Spain and
Portugal; and England obtained almost all of the French colonial
territories. In the eighteenth century the thirteen English colonies on
the Atlantic seaboard made good their independence; and in the
nineteenth, Spain lost all of her vast possessions in America. During
the early nineteenth century, Great Britain, in spite of the loss of the
thirteen colonies, was by far the most successful colonizing country,
and her possessions were to be found in Canada, India, the East and West
Indies, Australia, and Africa.

Leaders of other nations in Europe thought these colonies of Great
Britain were the cause of her wealth and prosperity. Naturally they too
tried to found colonies in those parts of the world not occupied by
Europeans. They hoped by this means to extend their power, to find homes
for their surplus population, and to obtain markets for their new
manufactured goods. Thus Africa was parceled out among France, Germany,
Great Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. The islands of the
Pacific were seized in the same manner. Proposals for a partition of
China were made by Germany, Russia, Japan, France, and Great Britain;
and if it had not been for the American demands for the "open door of
trade" and for the "territorial integrity" of China, that nation
probably would have shared the fate of Africa. The noteworthy fact about
this rivalry for colonies is that almost the entire world, except China
and Japan, came under the domination of Europeans and their descendants.

Having noted a few general features of European history during the
nineteenth century, we shall now take up in turn each of the more
important countries.

GERMANY.--After the overthrow of Napoleon, a German Confederation was
formed. This comprised thirty-nine states which were bound to each other
by a very weak tie. The union was not so strong even as that in our own
country under the Articles of Confederation. But there were two states
in the German Confederation which were far stronger than any of the
others; these were Austria and Prussia. Austria had been a great power
in German and European affairs for centuries; but her rulers were now
incompetent and corrupt. Prussia, on the other hand, was an upstart,
whose strength lay in universal military service. As the century
progressed, the influence of Prussia became greater; and the jealousy of
Austria grew proportionately. Bismarck, the Prussian prime minister,
adopted a policy of "blood and iron." By this he meant that Prussia
would attain the objects of her ambition by means of war. Under his
guidance she would intimidate or conquer the other German states and
force them into trade and commercial agreements, or annex their
territory to that of Prussia.

Bismarck looked for success only to the army. With the king back of him,
he defied the people's representatives, ignored the Prussian
constitution, and purposely picked quarrels with his neighbors. In 1866,
in a brief war of seven weeks, Austria was hopelessly defeated and
forced to retire from the German Confederation. In 1870, when he felt
sure of his military preparations, Bismarck altered a telegram and thus
brought on a war with France. The Franco-Prussian War lasted only a few
months; but in that time the French were thoroughly defeated. Many
important results followed the war: (1) The German states, influenced by
the patriotic excitement of a successful war, founded the German Empire,
with Prussia in the leading position, and the Prussian king as German
emperor or "Kaiser." (2) A huge indemnity of one billion dollars was
exacted by Prussia from France, and this money, deposited in the German
banks and loaned to individuals, played a large part in expanding the
manufactures and commerce of Germany. (3) Prussia took away from France,
against the wishes of the inhabitants, the provinces called
Alsace-Lorraine. This "wrong done to France," as President Wilson has
said, "unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years." (4) The
French people carried through a revolution and established a
republic--for the third time in their history--which has continued down
to the present.

After 1870 Germany made remarkable material progress. By 1911 her
population had grown from 41,000,000 to 65,000,000. Her coal and iron
production in 1911 was eight times as much as in 1871. In wealth,
commerce, coal production, and textile industries, among European
countries, Germany was second only to Great Britain; while in the
production of iron and steel Germany had passed Great Britain and was
second only to the United States.

But this great industrial and commercial advance was not accompanied
with a corresponding liberality in government. The constitution of the
German Empire gave very large powers to the emperor, and very little
power to the representatives of the people. Prussia, the dominant state
in the empire, had an antiquated system of voting which rated men's
votes according to the taxes they paid, and placed political power in
the hands of a small number of capitalists and wealthy landowners,
especially the Junkers (yoong'kerz), or Prussian nobles. The educational
system, while giving a rudimentary education to all, was really designed
to keep large masses of the people subject to the military group, the
government officials, and the capitalists. Blind devotion to the emperor
and belief in the necessity of future war in order to increase German
prosperity, were widely taught. The "mailed fist" was clenched, and "the
shining sword" rattled in the scabbard whenever Germany thought the
other nations of Europe showed her a lack of respect. Enormous
preparations for war were made in order that Germany might gain from her
neighbors the "place in the sun" which she was determined upon. Other
nations were to be pushed aside or be broken to pieces in order that the
German "super-men" might enjoy all that they wished of this world's
goods and possessions.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.--The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1910 had a
population of 49,000,000, made up of peoples and races who spoke
different languages and had different customs, habits, and ideals. These
races, instead of being brought under unifying influences as foreigners
are in the United States, had for centuries retained their
peculiarities. Germans comprised 24 per cent of the total population;
Hungarians, 20 per cent; Slavic races (including Bohemians, Poles, South
Slavs, and others), 45 per cent; Roumanians, over 6 per cent; and
Italians less than 2 per cent. The Germans and Hungarians, although only
a minority of the total population, had long exercised political control
over the others and by repressive measures had tried to stamp out their
schools, newspapers, and languages. Unrest was continuous during the
nineteenth century; and the rise of the independent states of Serbia,
Roumania, and Bulgaria tended to make the Slavic and Roumanian
inhabitants of Austria-Hungary dissatisfied with their own position.

After 1815 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy continued under the rule of the
royal family of Hapsburgs, whose proud history extends back to the
fifteenth century. Austria (but not Hungary) was part of the German
Confederation, and her representative had the right of presiding at all
meetings of the confederation. Between 1815 and 1848 the Austrian
emperor and his Prime minister were the leaders in opposition to popular
government and national aspirations. But in 1848 a serious uprising
took place, and it seemed for a time that the diverse peoples would fly
apart from each other and establish separate states. The emperor
abdicated and his prime minister fled to England. Francis Joseph, the
young heir to the throne, with the aid of experienced military leaders
succeeded in suppressing the rebellion. For sixty-eight years
(1848-1916) he was personally popular and held together the composite
state.

In 1866 Austria was driven out of the German Confederation by Prussia.
Seven years earlier she had lost most of her Italian possessions.
Thereafter her interests and ambitions lay to the southeast; and she
bent her energies to extend her territory, influence, and commerce into
the Balkan region. A semblance of popular government was established in
Austria and in Hungary, which were separated from each other in ordinary
affairs, but continued under the same monarch. In each country, however,
the suffrage and elections were so juggled that the ruling minority, of
Germans in Austria and of Hungarians in Hungary, was enabled to keep the
majority in subjection.

Austria-Hungary has not progressed as rapidly in industry and commerce
as the countries to the north and west of her. Her life is still largely
agricultural, and cultivation is often conducted by primitive methods.
Before the war her wealth per person was only $500, as compared with
$1843 in the United States, $1849 in Great Britain, $1250 in France, and
$1230 in Germany. She possessed only one good seaport, Trieste
(tr[)i]-[)e]st'), and this partly explained her desire to obtain access to
the Black Sea and the AEgean Sea. About half of her foreign trade was
carried on with Germany. The low standards of national wealth and
production made the raising of taxes a difficult matter. The government
had a serious struggle to obtain the funds for a large military and
naval program.

ITALY.--For a thousand years before 1870 there was no single
government for the entire Italian peninsula. Although the people were
mainly of one race, their territory was divided into small states ruled
by despotic princes, who were sometimes of Italian families, but more
often were foreigners--Greeks, Germans, French, Spanish, and Austrians.
The Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church, governed nearly one third
of the land. This condition continued after 1815. But during the
nineteenth century the Italians began to realize that they belonged to
one race. They saw that the rule of foreigners was opposed to the
national welfare.

By 1870 the union of all Italy into one kingdom was completed. In this
work three great men participated, as well as many lesser patriots. The
first was Garibal'di, a man of intense courage and patriotism. He
aroused the young men of Italy to the need of national union and the
expulsion of the foreigners. For over thirty years he was engaged in
various military expeditions which aided greatly in the establishment of
the national union. The second leader was of an entirely different
character. Count Cavour (ka-voor') was a statesman, a politician, a
deep student of European history, and a man of great tact. He, too,
wished for a united Italy, but he believed union could not be gained
without foreign assistance. By most skillful means he secured the
support of France and of England, while at the same time he used
Garibaldi and his revolutionists. He had succeeded, at the time of his
death in 1861, in bringing together all of Italy except Rome and Venice.
He won for the new Italian kingdom a place among the great nations of
Europe.

The third great Italian was Victor Emman'uel, king of Sardinia. He
approved of a limited monarchy, like that of England, instead of the
corrupt despotisms which existed in most of the Italian peninsula. He
knew how to use men like Cavour and Garibaldi to achieve the national
ambitions. By a popular vote in each part of Italy Victor Emmanuel was
accepted as king of the united nation. The country was not ready for a
republic; but Victor Emmanuel proved a wise national leader, willing to
reign, according to a written constitution under which the people's
representatives had the determining voice in the government. In 1870 the
king entered Rome and early the next year proclaimed the city to be the
capital of Italy.

BELGIUM.--The country we now know as Belgium has had a very checkered
history. At one time or another it has been controlled by German,
French, Spanish, and Austrian rulers. At the opening of the nineteenth
century it was annexed to the kingdom of Holland (1815). But a revolt
took place in 1830, and the Belgians separated from the Dutch and chose
a king for themselves. Their constitution declares that the government
is a "constitutional, representative, and hereditary monarchy." The
government is largely in the control of the people or their
representatives. There is one voter for every five persons in the
population, nearly the same proportion as in the United States. In 1839
the principal states of Europe agreed to recognize Belgium's
independence, and in case of war among themselves to treat her territory
as neutral land, not to be invaded. This treaty was signed by Prussia as
well as by Austria, France, Great Britain, and Russia. The treaty was
again acknowledged by Prussia in 1870. It was in violation of these
treaties, as we shall see, that Prussian and other German troops invaded
Belgium on August 4, 1914.

FRANCE.--In 1789 France entered upon a period of revolution. The old
monarchy was shortly overthrown, and with it went aristocracy and all
the inequalities of the Middle Ages. A republic, however, did not long
endure; and Napoleon Bonaparte used his position as a successful general
to establish a new monarchy called the French Empire. After Napoleon's
downfall, the allied monarchs of Europe restored the old line of kings
in France. But the country had outgrown despotism. A revolution in 1830
deposed one king and set up another who was ready to rule under the
terms of a constitution. In 1848 this monarchy was displaced and the
second French republic was established. But again a Bonaparte, nephew of
Napoleon I, seized the government and established a second empire,
calling himself Napoleon III. He aped the ways of his great predecessor
and tried by foreign conquest or annexation in Africa, Italy, and Mexico
to dazzle the French people. But he was never popular, and his reign
closed in the defeat and disgrace of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71),
for which he was partly responsible.

The third French republic was proclaimed in 1870 and is the present
government of the country. Under the constitution there is a senate, the
members of which are elected for nine years, and a lower house, elected
for four years. The president is chosen by these two houses of the
legislature for a term of seven years. No member of the old royal
families may become president of the republic. The president of France
does not possess nearly so much power as the president of the United
States. Many of the executive duties are performed by the premier, or
prime minister, and other cabinet ministers.

Republican France has become one of the great nations of the world, and
its democratic institutions are firmly rooted in the hearts of the
people. It has been compelled to face German militarism by erecting a
system of universal military training. The patriotism and self-sacrifice
of all classes during the Great War have been beyond praise.

GREAT BRITAIN.--During the nineteenth century Great Britain did not
experience any of the sudden revolutions which appeared in nearly every
other country of Europe. For centuries England, Scotland, and Ireland
had possessed representative institutions. When reforms were needed,
they were adopted gradually, by the natural process of lawmaking,
instead of resulting from rebellion and revolt. In this way Great
Britain had been changed from an aristocratic government to one founded
on democratic principles. By 1884 the suffrage was nearly as extensive
as in the United States. Parliament became as truly representative of
the people's will as our American Congress. Far-reaching social reforms
were adopted which advanced the general welfare. Among these reforms
were acts for improving housing conditions, regulating hours of labor
and use of machinery in factories, and establishing a national insurance
system, old-age pensions, and compensation to injured workmen.

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