id="id00043">irredenta
  Region culturally or historically related to one nation, but subject
  to a foreign government.

Junker
  Member of the Prussian landed aristocracy, formerly associated with
  political reaction and militarism.

Kiao-chau
  German protectorate from 1898 to 1915, on the Yellow Sea coast of
  China. It was on 200 square miles of the Shantung Peninsula around the
  city of Tsingtao, leased to Germany for one hundred years by the
  imperial Chinese government. In 1898 Tsingtao was an obscure fishing
  village of 83,000 inhabitants. When Germany withdrew in 1915, Tsingtao
  was an important trading port with a population of 275,000.

kine
  Plural of cow.

kultur
  German culture and civilization as idealized by the exponents of
  German imperialism during the Hohenzollern and Nazi regimes.

lighterage
  Transportation of goods on a lighter (large flatbottom barge used to
  deliver or unload goods to or from a cargo ship or transport goods
  over short distances.)

lyddite
  An explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid, a poisonous, explosive
  yellow crystalline solid, C6H2(NO2)3OH.

mitrailleuse
  Machine gun.

morganatic
  Marriage between a person of royal birth and a partner of lower rank,
  where no titles or estates of the royal partner are to be shared by
  the partner of inferior rank nor by any of the offspring.

nugatory
  Of little or no importance; trifling; invalid.

pastils
  Small medicated or flavored tablet; tablet containing aromatic
  substances burned to fumigate or deodorize the air; pastel paste or
  crayon.

poilus
  French soldier, especially in World War I.

pourparler
  Discussion preliminary to negotiation.

prorogue
  Discontinue a session of parliament; postpone; defer.

punctilio
  Fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities.

rinderpest
  Contagious viral disease, chiefly of cattle, causing ulceration of the
  alimentary tract and diarrhea.

Sublime Porte
  [French. Porte: a gate] Ottoman court; government of the Turkish
  empire; from the gate of the sultan's palace.

Tsing-tao (Qing-dao)
  City in eastern China on the Yellow Sea, north-northwest of Shanghai.
  The city was leased in 1898 to the Germans, who established a famous
  brewery.

Uhlans
  Horse cavalry of the Polish, German, Austrian, and Russian armies.

ukase
  Order or decree; an edict; proclamation of a czar having the force of
  law in imperial Russia.

verbund
  [German] Interconnection.

Wipers
  British soldiers' pronunciation of "Ypres".

Zemstvos
  An elective council for the administration of a provincial district in
  czarist Russia.

[End Transcriber's notes]

[Illustration: THE VICTORIOUS GENERALS; photographs]
  General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General
  Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal
  Haig, head of the British armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom
  Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian
  armies. General Marshall (British), head of the Mesopotamian
  expedition. General Allenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from the
  Turks.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR

An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War

By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D.
In Collaboration with
RICHARD J. BEAMISH
Special War Correspondent
and Military Analyst

With an Introduction
By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH
Chief of Staff of the United States Army

Illustrated with Reproductions from the Official Photographs of the United States, British and French Governments

PUBLISHED FOR THE UNITED PUBLISHERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO 1919

COPYRIGHT, 1918

FRANCIS A. MARCH

This history is an original work and is fully protected by the copyright laws, including the right of translation. All persons are warned against reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the publishers.

WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF. WASHINGTON,

NOVEMBER 14, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men. A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion.

The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and the sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable it will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends to put at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of facts of the past period of over four years; and that the system employed in safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it will produce a document of great historical value without entering upon any speculative conclusions as to cause and effect of the various phases of the war or attempting to project into an historical document individual opinions. With these ends in view, this History will be of the greatest value. Signature [Payton C. March] General, Chief of Staff. United States Army.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM A Conflict that was Inevitable—The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of France—Germany's Defiance to the World—Heroic Belgium—Four Autocratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of Liberty—America's Titanic Effort—Four Million Men Under Arms, Two Million Overseas—France the Martyr Nation—The British Empire's Tremendous Share in the Victory—A River of Blood Watering the Desert of Autocracy

CHAPTER II. THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN The War Storm Breaks—Trade and Commerce Paralyzed—Homeward Rush of Travelers—Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America—Stock Markets Closed—The Tide of Desolation Following in the Wake of War

CHAPTER III. WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR The Balkan Ferment—Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies—Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe—Scars Left by the Balkan War—Germany's Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun.

CHAPTER IV. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES The Assassination at Sarajevo—The Slavic Ferment—Austria's Domineering Note—The Plotters of Potsdam—The Mailed Fist of Militarism Beneath the Velvet Glove of