Charles McClellan Stevens.
Europe in arms, the titanic war of nations; online
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'by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y., I9llf
William II King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany
EUROPE IN ARMS
THE
TITANIC WAR OF NATIONS
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
Unparalleled Battles on Land and Sea and
the Operations of Air=Scouts, the
Newest Form of Destroyers
BY
PROF. C. M. STEVENS, Ph. D.
Mag-nificent Pictures of the Rulers of Europe, Battle-
ships, Airships, Soldiers, etc., of the Combatants.
Thrilling accounts of the Movements of the
Largest Armies the World has Known.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
Copyright, igi4, by W. J. Hainsfurther.
CHICAGO
LAIRD & LEE, Inc., PUBLISHERS
'â– %
COPYPJGHT, 1914, BY
W. J. HAINSFUETHEE.
tss-^dj
CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
PAGE
The Deluge. Columbia 's Vision 10
First Thoughts of the War op Wars
The Impossible Has Happened 11
The Greatest Cause of War 12
The Rage for Destruction 12
The Task of America 13
Imperial Militarism and Religion 14
Last Message of the Pope 16
Judgment Some Day. Poem 17
Censorship
The Armageddon of Silence 19
The Censorship Puts Us Back a Century 19
How It Works in War-Ridden Lands 20
Heroes and Heroic Deeds 21
The Cry of the Women. Poem 21
Death in the Dark 22
First Experiences in a Great War
Commonplace Horrors 25
Individual Experiences 26
What a Poor Mother Says. Poem in French 28
Facing Hardships 29
Scenes in Paris - 30
Americans Caught in the Cordons of War 34
First Food in Three Days 35
Scenes of Liege Skirmishing 36
iv CONTENTS
PAGE
Arrival of the Pliiladelphia 37
National Anthem Heralds Arrival 38
Early Stages of the War
Chronology of the First Two Weeks 40
A General View 43
The Hour. Fagan 's Poem 44
Liege 44
Siezing the Whole Town 45
Wounds Worse Than Death 47
Fresh Troops to Slaughter 48
Dead Buried in Heaps 49
The Conquest of Liege. Phillips ' Poem 50
Dicken 's Picture of War at Liege 51
A Soldier 's Letter to His Sweetheart 51
Machine Obedience of Men 52
Word-Picture of Battle at Diest 53
Death of Horses From Exhaustion 54
To Europe. Stirling 's Poem .' 55
War in Alsace 56
Adventures on Bicycles 57
Shot as a Spy 58
Search for Dead in Cornfields 58
Signs of War's Disaster 59
Alsatian Peasant's Story 60
Wounded Left in the Roads 61
Capture of Brussels. 62
The Burgomaster's Appeal 62
The War Indemnity 63
Description of Occupation of Brussels 63
Jap 's Move on China 65
Jap Cruisers Scour the Sea 66
Defenses Reinforced QQ
Swiss Army Mobilized 67
Americans in Distress 68
War as Seen From Holland 69
Russian Advance Into Germany 70
Aircraft Episodes 72
Watching for Air Messages r 74
â– Victories of Servian Troops 75
Auto Dash for the Frontier 76
The German Advance 78
The Russian Situation. 80
CONTENTS V
PAGE
An Enigma to War Experts 82
The Crash of Numbers 83
Two Million Men in Death- Grapple 85
The Vast Battle Line 86
The Franco-British Armies Beaten Back 87
The Fall of Namur 88
Allies Ketirement Explained 89
Scenes of War at Charleroi 89
Wounded Fill the Town 89
French Open the Canonading 90
Smashing an Aeroplane 91
Vast Movement on to Paris 92
German Dispatch : " Joffre's Army Broken Up." 92
The Kussian Invasion 93
Suffering Throughout Belgium 94
Boy Scouts Mobilized 95
BOOK II
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE GEEAT WAR
Opinions op the Most Noted Leaders
A Graphic Vision 97
Comments of Christian Leaders 98
The Question. Poem . . , 100
View Point of Americans , 101
French Views of Causes 104
Views of Socialism 105
Can It Be ? Poem 107
German Ofificial Statements Ill
Opening the Eyes of the World 112
Reasoning From the Turkish Revolution 112
Austria Against Servia 113
Germany Also Menaced 114
Demands of Austria 115
War Against the Uncultured ; 116
Russian Statement Considered 117
Die Deutsche Panzerf aust. Poem in German 118
Statement of the Imperial Chancellor. 118
yi CONTENTS
PAGE
Obligations Discovered 119
"William II, Prince of Peace. Viereck's Poem 122
An Appeal to Sweden for Germany 123
The Jewish View 124
Imperialism and Democracy. A Definition 126
The Only Peace. Poem 127
Smashing the Machinery of Civilization
The Staggering Blow 129
Has Christianity Failed 130
Opinions of American Scholarship 133
The Right to Bloody Violence 135
The Call to the Colors. Poem 136
Living in the Time of a Great War 136
The Vast Sacrifice 137
Neutrality of the United States
The President's Appeal for Neutrality 140
Americans of Many Nations 141
Must Be Neutral in Thought and Action 142
Diplomatic Documents Leading Up to War
First Events 143
Note to the Servians 144
Austria's Circular Note 146
Servia's Reply 148
Servia's Reply Denounced by Austria 152
Russian Statement 153
German Emperor's Reply to the Czar 154
Germany's Sharp Note 154
Russian Proclamation 155
Russian Promise to Holland 156
Japan's Ultimatum 156
Japan 's Promise to America 159
English Statement 159
Kitchener's Instructions to Soldiers 160
England 's Praise to Belgium 161
French Pledge to Restore Belgium 161
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
The Great Test of American Diplomacy
America Surrounded by War 163
Stability of American Government 164
Cost of the War 164
What is Costs to Kill a Man 165
The Red Cross Nurse. Poem 167
Switzerland as a War Hospital 167
America 's Part 168
Dogs for the Red Cross 169
That Graves May Not Be Nameless 170
Rank and File. Dobson 's Poem 170
Stupendous Work of Army Surgeons 170
A Belgian Surgeon's Researches 171
Fatal Wounds From Artillery 173
American Gamblers in Food Supplies
Those Who Corner the Food Markets 177
President Acts to Restrain Rise in Prices 178
American Construction Contrasted With European De-
struction 179
The War and South America
Latin American Trade 183
Direct Steamship Lines 184
Aggressive Action Fair in Trade 185
On the Pacific Coast 186
Undoubted Opportunity 187
American Shipping Bill o 188
War Measures
Military Strategy 190
Fortifications 192
The Concert of Europe 193
How the Great Alliances Were Formed 194
The Triple Alliance 194
The Triple Entente 195
International Arbitration 197
War Songs of the Nations 197
viii CONTENTS
BOOK III
MEANS AND SOURCES OF THE GREAT WAR
PAGE
The Merciless Machinery
Contrasts in the Vision of Heroism 201
Contrasts in Methods and Means 202
Role Played in the Tragedy by Electricity 203
Commands Flashed Across Space 205
Half-Ton Missiles Hurled Seven Miles 207
Cement Forts and Disappearing Gmis 209
The Army of Mercy 211
Submarines 212
Mines in the Present "War 218
Wireless in the Present War 221
Wireless in the Balkan War 224
Portable Wireless in the Field 225
Automobiles in War 226
Airships in War 227
American Devices 228
The Poet's Dream. Tennyson 234
Zeppelin 's Airships 235
War Strength of the Triple Alliance 237
War Strength of the Triple Entente 238
The Age-Long Conflict Between France and Germany
The Ancient Beginning 240
Conflict of a Thousand Years Ago 241
The Weaker Inheritance . 242
Alsace and Lorraine in Every War 243
Metz and Strassburg in Sieges 246
Bismarck 's Idea 247
The ''Zabern Affair," 248
Declaration of the Rights of Man 249
Rival Armaments 251
How Paris Is Defended 253
Hapsburgs, Romanovs, Hohenzollerns
Three Families and Their Cost to Europe 255
The Start of a Bitter Feud 257
CONTENTS
IX
PAGE
Hapsburg Tragedies 258
HohenzoUern Chronicles 281
Reluctant to Rule Over the Russias 264
Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia 266
Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria .^ 266
William II, Emperor of Germany -^-^ 267
King Albert of Belgium at the Front 268
Sentry Refuses the King Admittance to Hospital 269
Side Lights on the' Great Issues
George V, King of Great Britain 271
English Kinship Among Royalty of Europe 272
Mohammedan or Christian 273
Geographical Description of War-Torn Towns 277
The Kingdom of Servia 290
The Austro-Hungarian Empire 292
Belgium 293
The Belgian People 294
The French Republic 298
The German Empire 303
Resources of Germany in 1913 304
The Hohenzollerns 307
The Russian Empire 307
Holland 309
The Hague 311
Colonies of the Warring Nations 312
American Prosperity and the War 315
The Belgian Protest Against Airship Bombs 316
THE DELUGE
As one who dreams a dreadful dream and moans in fitful sleep,
Columbia broods in anguish o'er the hell across the deep,
And, clear-eyed, save for futile tears, she sees great nations sink
With all their brains and manhood under Reason 's level brink.
She sees long years of kindness taken from the human race
And every line of gospel flung into its writer's face.
The war lords snap their fingers and with their insane commands
Brave millions offer up their lives and march to hostile lands.
Among the stars the great god Mars, white hot to thrust and kill,
Is sneering at the tiny ants who crawl to do his will.
The teachings of the Nazarene, the dreams great souls have told
Are trampled 'neath the charger's hoof and sacrificed for Gold.
The peasant in his lowly home sits white-faced and forlorn
To wait the marching thousands with their selfishness and scorn.
To-day he has his little all — his home, his field, his wife ;
To-morrow, when the storm has passed, he will not have his life ;
Or if, perchance, his life be spared for later ghastly scenes.
Among the ruins he will sit and wonder what God means.
Gone all of our illusions and the dreams of peace we wrought,
Forgotten all the lessons that the blood-smeared sword has taught.
The grim retreat from Moscow when Napoleon's legions died,
The awful field of Austerlitz and Jena 's crimson tide ;
The gentler, nobler part of man and all that knowledge brings
Are banished from the Present to appease the lust of kings.
Afar we hear the charger's scream, the slim boy's dying moan,
As on the red and ravaged field he sobs to God alone;
Afar we see the plodding hosts go blindly to their fate
Like dumb and willing cattle driven through a country gate.
As one who dreams a dreadful dream and moans in fitful sleep
Columbia broods in anguish o'er the hell across the deep
— William F. Kirk.
10
BOOK I
Survey of the World-Staggering
Disaster to Humanity
The impossible has happened. The incredible has
forced itself into flaming facts.
The calamity that has fallen upon the world is
utterly beyond description or comprehension.
The green fields are stained with blood; houses,
factories, and cities are battered down.
Human lives are burned up like coals in a furnace.
Death and agony inconceivable, and no man can.
truly say why the killing or why the war.
Years of science, civilization, and peace end in the
greatest, bloodiest, most brutal war, as unnecessary
as any that the world has known.
Words are meaningless ; description is futile. The
world's higher power for destruction — civilization
transformed into a great international cutthroat —
that is the picture this earth presents after nineteen
centuries of ' ' Christianity. ' '
The world is reminded now of the power with
which Carlyle described war's horror:
''Horrible enough! A whole marchfield strewed
with shell splinters, cannon shot, ruined tumbrils,
and dead men and horses, stragglers still remaining
11
12 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
not so mucli as buried. And those red mould heaps :
Ay, there lie the shells of men, out of which all the
life and virtue have been blown; and now are they
swept together and crammed down out of sight, like
blown egg-shells ! ' '
The greatest single fighting force ever marshaled
in history now goes from mobilization to war. The
impending collision will be with Europe; the crash
will shake the world.
Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Belgmm,
France, Portugal, Servia, and Japan have sprung
into the arena, each screaming out that the other fel-
low began it, each loaded down with arms and troops,
yet claiming a desire only to keep the peace.
They all solemnly swear they are on the defensive ;
and they are all trying to strike the first offensive
blow.
THE GEEATEST CAUSE OF WAR
Dr. Frank Crane has said editorially a great truth,
as follows:
' ' The greatest cause for war is military prepared-
ness. When a nation spends millions of dollars for
fireworks, sooner or later they want to see them fired
off. When five hundred thousand young men have
been practising with guns for years, by and by they
want to shoot somebody."
THE RAGE FOR DESTRUCTION"
Gunpowder has blown the boundaries of European
nations into torn and twisted lines many times dur-
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR 13
ing the last 125 years. Then, through a retaliatory
fate, the same mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and
charcoal has battered to debris the barriers marking
the new borders and restored the old. The political
topography of Europe bids fair to undergo another
violent reconstruction through the same pitiless
explosive as an outcome of the present gigantic
struggle.
No nation has ever had the opportunity now before
this country to prove that ^' Peace hath its victories
no less renowned than war."
Indeed, 3^ears hence, when history finally records
the results of the cataclysm into which Europe has
plunged the whole world, it will be written, we hope
and believe, that the United States, great as it was
before the conflict, won the most gigantic and most
lasting triumph in the annals of all time by stead-
fastly remaining at peace.
Our people have a mission to perform for man-
kind — an ideal to keep resolutely and fearlessly in
mind, so that in the centuries to come, civilization
can point to our course as an inspiring and convinc-
ing demonstration that a nation's enduring achieve-
ments and noblest blessings to its own and to others
are in peace, not in war.
Slaughtering each other by the hundreds simply
because they live on different sides of a geographi-
cal boundary line is not the true mission of man on
earth, nor will civilization long applaud the prowess
of the man or nation that boasts of having swept the
greatest number of human beings from earth by the
14 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
sword. The world has never seen a conflict of arms
on such a gigantic scale as that which has just begun
abroad, and where it will end is as far beyond human
comprehension as Eternity itself.
THE TASK OF AMEEICA
Firm in this faith, let us hold ourselves happy in
this republic. We are, perhaps, to be the saviors of
the civilization imperiled by the sudden breaking
down of the machinery of civilized society abroad.
But we shall not work alone. The aroused and indig-
nant energy of other nations will soon unite with us,
that social order does not perish from the earth,
and that, out of European chaos, a real and substan-
tial advance shall come to human welfare.
IMPERIAL MILITARISM AND RELIGION"
Of the fourteen hundred millions of human beings
on this earth, nearly all pray to some god.
And the nations at war in Europe all pray to the
same god. A hideous, pathetic, pitiful sight that God
looks down upon, as he turns his eyes toward the
praying murderers that look up to Him, each asking
for victory.
''Help me, O God, to capture that town, though I
kill all the women and children," one ruler prays,
and thinks that God will answer and help him.
''Help me, O God, to defend this city, to* kill the
men that besiege it, to attack their city in turn and
destroy it, though I kill all their women and chil-
THE WOELD-STAGGERING WAR • 15
dren," and the praying man believes that God is with
him and will help him in his plans of murder.
Butchery by day and night on the water, on the
land and in the air, prayers asking the Creator of the
world to help them in their killing, seventeen millions
of armed men ready for the game of murder, indus-
try dead, agriculture dead, science, progress, every
good power on the earth, paralyzed.
And that is war.
PRAYER OF THE WAR-LORD
God of my Fathers, grant me aid
That I may rout my countless foes!
By Thee were guns and cannons made,
From Thee the joy of battle flows.
God, who gave me might and power,
Thou knowest that my heart is pure..
Be with me in this awful hour,
That I and mine may still endure.
Thou art the God who loveth war,
And famine, rapine, blood and death ;
1 pray Thee stand beside me, for
Thou knowest what my spirit saith.
The soul of me is linked with Thine
To bid the blood of heroes flow.
The death we grant them is divine,
And in Thy name I bid them go.
God of my Fathers, still be kind
To them who raise Thy banner high,
While Thou and I together find
The surest way for them to die.
16 • THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
They do my bidding, God, look down
And bless the sword that I have drawn.
My blight shall fall on field and town.
And thousands shall not see the dawn.
To Thee, God, I give all praise
That Thou hast made my hand so strong ;
That now, as in my father's days.
The King and Thee can do no wrong.
— Edward S. Van Zile.
To be neutral as a people and to keep ourselves as
individuals free from the inflaming toucli of war
passion, is the clear duty of every American.
The President of the United States, from the bed-
side of his dying wife, appealed to the nations for
some means of reaching peace for Europe. The last
thoughts of the dying helpmate was for the great
responsibility of her husband in this awful crisis in
the life of nations.
The Pope was stricken to death by the great calam-
ity to civilization. A few minutes before the end
came, he said that the Almighty in His infinite mercy
was removing him from the world to spare him the
anguish of the av/ful war.
The last message sent out to his followers over the
world was given in a dispatch as follows :
At this moment, when nearly the whole of Europe is being
dragged into the vortex of a most terrible war, with its present
dangers and miseries, and the consequences to follow, the
thought of which mast strike every one with grief and horror,
we, whose care is the life and welfare of so many citizens and
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR 17
peoples, cannot but be deeply moved and our heart wrung with
the bitterest sorrow.
And in the midst of this universal confusion and peril, we feel
and know that both fatherly love and apostolic ministry demand
of us that we should with all earnestness turn the thoughts of
Christendom thither, "whence cometh help" — ^to Christ, the
Prince of Peace and the most powerful mediator between God
and man.
We charge, therefore, the Catholics of the whole world to
approach the throne of Grace and Mercy, each and all of them,
and more especially the clergy, whose duty furthermore it will
be to make in every parish, as their bishops shall direct, public
supplication, so that the merciful God may, as it were, be wearied
with the prayers of His children and speedily remove the evil
causes of war, giving to them who rule to think the thoughts of
peace and not of affliction.
From the palace of the Vatican, the second day of August,
1914. PIIJ8 X, Pontifex Maximus.
JUDGMENT SOME DAY
Somewhere, above this war of hate,
God broods upon His throne;
He scans the running sands of Fate,
And sees the end — alone.
Somewhere, above these stricken lands,
Almighty God looks down :
Perhaps with ruthless, guiding hands,
Perhaps with angry frown.
Whether He planned this scourge of flame.
No man to-day can tell ;
These kings all call upon His name
To bless their shot and shell.
18 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
Whether behind this drama dark,
God moves or devils lurk,
Swinging his scythe in widening arc,
The Reaper is at work.
We sicken at the awful cost,
Youth slaughtered, genius slain,
Mercy forgotten, pity lost,
Blood soaking hill and plain..
But some day those who rule these lands
Shall face God's judgment throne,
With naked hearts and reddened hands,
Unguarded and alone.
With those who died and those who wept.
These kings shall answer God
For plains and cities cannon swept.
For ruin spread abroad.
His voice shall give them their reward
For all eternal time ;
Forgiveness if He desired the sword,
Or His curse for a godless crime.
— William C. Stevens in Chicago Herald.
CENSOESHIP
The Aemageddon" of Moderit History Fought In"
THE Black Silence of Midnight, Hidden From
THE Sight of the World.
As IF to stand as an example for scripture, wMch
declares that ** everyone tliat doeth evil hateth the
light," the mighty inventions for communication
over the earth have been cut into silence as deep as
in any period of the dark ages.
In order to strike the deadliest blows at unex-
pected, and therefore undefended, spots, all knowl-
edge of war operations are suppressed.
the censorship puts us back a century
A hundred years ago the United States was at war
with England, and the burning of Washington, the
, battle of Fort Erie and the attack on Baltimore, dur-
ing which Key wrote his ''Star-Spangled Banner,"
were events of thrilling interest. But news traveled
slowly 100 years ago. It was days before New York
knew what had happened, and then only through the
use of relays of couriers rushing on horseback over
roads that were none of the best. Since then we have
developed a vast mechanism for the collection and
distribution of news.
And now, due to the censorship, the mechanism is
almost useless, and we are back not so very far from
19
20 CENSORSHIP
where people were a century ago. It is hard to miag-
ine that while the battle of Waterloo was being
fought on June 18, London was just receiving the
news of the reverse of the Prussians at Ligny on the
sixteenth. Even on the twentieth, the Times an-
nounced only that '^a Mr. Sutton had heard the news
of a great victory, '^ the official announcement not
coming until the next day.
The instant dissemination of war news reached its
highest point in the Spanish-American War. Ever
since then the more rigorous censorships established
by combatants have interfered with efficient news
gathering until to-day the minds attempting to the
limit of their capacity to grasp and understand the
events in Europe can secure but the sorriest and most
unstable data from which to extract a true concep-
tion of what is going on. It is but another instance
of the retroactive effects of war that the great record-
ing instrument so carefully built up during the past
century now is rendered useless.
HOW IT WOEKS IN" THE WAR-RIDDEN LANDS
The soldiers in the field see only the narrow ring
about them. War correspondents say that German
prisoners expressed surprise on finding that they had
been fighting Belgians. Uhlan officers could not
understand how English officers could be on the
French staff.
See already how it has worked out in France :
''Families left behind never receive news from
their soldiers. Those who have gone have just
CENSORSHIP 21
stepped out — been swallowed up. Their families may
write to tiiemj in special envelopes addressed to the
war office, but they will never know Avhere tliey are
until tliey come liome again. So secretly, so silently,
is tlie war being waged."
This is the silence that hangs over every home in
France. And here is the way in which any day may
see it broken :
''If the soldiers do not come home again, a card
from the war office will come, saying: ' ,
belonging to you, has fallen on the field of honor. ' ' '
That is all.
HEROES AND HEROIC DEEDS
What becomes of the heroes ? It would seem that
nations are eager to thrill over tidings of brave men
and heroic deeds brought all fresh and inspiring
from the front. All news is reduced to cold, bare
bulletins of geography and net results.
Modern warfare, so far as we are permitted to see
it at work, appears to be a gigantic, soulless mecha-
nism, turning its blood-smeared wheels in darkness,
traceable only by the dead and wounded that pile
higher and higher behind it.
THE CRY OF THE WOMEN
They tell us of wars and rumors of wars,
And the orders of kings to men,
And little they heed of the sorrow decreed
By the stroke of a ruler's pen.
22 CENSOESHIP
And little they care for child and for wife,
When the wife and the child make moan,
While nations fight for their ruler's greed,
And the fighter dies alone.
The woman with hair like sunset gold,
The woman with hair like coal.
Each of them loses the love of her life,
The man that is half of her soul.
Aye ! you that flatter a ruler 's greed,
Glass J7 »5"^/ /
Book «> w ^ ,
•a +j
'by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y., I9llf
William II King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany
EUROPE IN ARMS
THE
TITANIC WAR OF NATIONS
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
Unparalleled Battles on Land and Sea and
the Operations of Air=Scouts, the
Newest Form of Destroyers
BY
PROF. C. M. STEVENS, Ph. D.
Mag-nificent Pictures of the Rulers of Europe, Battle-
ships, Airships, Soldiers, etc., of the Combatants.
Thrilling accounts of the Movements of the
Largest Armies the World has Known.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
Copyright, igi4, by W. J. Hainsfurther.
CHICAGO
LAIRD & LEE, Inc., PUBLISHERS
'â– %
COPYPJGHT, 1914, BY
W. J. HAINSFUETHEE.
tss-^dj
CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
PAGE
The Deluge. Columbia 's Vision 10
First Thoughts of the War op Wars
The Impossible Has Happened 11
The Greatest Cause of War 12
The Rage for Destruction 12
The Task of America 13
Imperial Militarism and Religion 14
Last Message of the Pope 16
Judgment Some Day. Poem 17
Censorship
The Armageddon of Silence 19
The Censorship Puts Us Back a Century 19
How It Works in War-Ridden Lands 20
Heroes and Heroic Deeds 21
The Cry of the Women. Poem 21
Death in the Dark 22
First Experiences in a Great War
Commonplace Horrors 25
Individual Experiences 26
What a Poor Mother Says. Poem in French 28
Facing Hardships 29
Scenes in Paris - 30
Americans Caught in the Cordons of War 34
First Food in Three Days 35
Scenes of Liege Skirmishing 36
iv CONTENTS
PAGE
Arrival of the Pliiladelphia 37
National Anthem Heralds Arrival 38
Early Stages of the War
Chronology of the First Two Weeks 40
A General View 43
The Hour. Fagan 's Poem 44
Liege 44
Siezing the Whole Town 45
Wounds Worse Than Death 47
Fresh Troops to Slaughter 48
Dead Buried in Heaps 49
The Conquest of Liege. Phillips ' Poem 50
Dicken 's Picture of War at Liege 51
A Soldier 's Letter to His Sweetheart 51
Machine Obedience of Men 52
Word-Picture of Battle at Diest 53
Death of Horses From Exhaustion 54
To Europe. Stirling 's Poem .' 55
War in Alsace 56
Adventures on Bicycles 57
Shot as a Spy 58
Search for Dead in Cornfields 58
Signs of War's Disaster 59
Alsatian Peasant's Story 60
Wounded Left in the Roads 61
Capture of Brussels. 62
The Burgomaster's Appeal 62
The War Indemnity 63
Description of Occupation of Brussels 63
Jap 's Move on China 65
Jap Cruisers Scour the Sea 66
Defenses Reinforced QQ
Swiss Army Mobilized 67
Americans in Distress 68
War as Seen From Holland 69
Russian Advance Into Germany 70
Aircraft Episodes 72
Watching for Air Messages r 74
â– Victories of Servian Troops 75
Auto Dash for the Frontier 76
The German Advance 78
The Russian Situation. 80
CONTENTS V
PAGE
An Enigma to War Experts 82
The Crash of Numbers 83
Two Million Men in Death- Grapple 85
The Vast Battle Line 86
The Franco-British Armies Beaten Back 87
The Fall of Namur 88
Allies Ketirement Explained 89
Scenes of War at Charleroi 89
Wounded Fill the Town 89
French Open the Canonading 90
Smashing an Aeroplane 91
Vast Movement on to Paris 92
German Dispatch : " Joffre's Army Broken Up." 92
The Kussian Invasion 93
Suffering Throughout Belgium 94
Boy Scouts Mobilized 95
BOOK II
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE GEEAT WAR
Opinions op the Most Noted Leaders
A Graphic Vision 97
Comments of Christian Leaders 98
The Question. Poem . . , 100
View Point of Americans , 101
French Views of Causes 104
Views of Socialism 105
Can It Be ? Poem 107
German Ofificial Statements Ill
Opening the Eyes of the World 112
Reasoning From the Turkish Revolution 112
Austria Against Servia 113
Germany Also Menaced 114
Demands of Austria 115
War Against the Uncultured ; 116
Russian Statement Considered 117
Die Deutsche Panzerf aust. Poem in German 118
Statement of the Imperial Chancellor. 118
yi CONTENTS
PAGE
Obligations Discovered 119
"William II, Prince of Peace. Viereck's Poem 122
An Appeal to Sweden for Germany 123
The Jewish View 124
Imperialism and Democracy. A Definition 126
The Only Peace. Poem 127
Smashing the Machinery of Civilization
The Staggering Blow 129
Has Christianity Failed 130
Opinions of American Scholarship 133
The Right to Bloody Violence 135
The Call to the Colors. Poem 136
Living in the Time of a Great War 136
The Vast Sacrifice 137
Neutrality of the United States
The President's Appeal for Neutrality 140
Americans of Many Nations 141
Must Be Neutral in Thought and Action 142
Diplomatic Documents Leading Up to War
First Events 143
Note to the Servians 144
Austria's Circular Note 146
Servia's Reply 148
Servia's Reply Denounced by Austria 152
Russian Statement 153
German Emperor's Reply to the Czar 154
Germany's Sharp Note 154
Russian Proclamation 155
Russian Promise to Holland 156
Japan's Ultimatum 156
Japan 's Promise to America 159
English Statement 159
Kitchener's Instructions to Soldiers 160
England 's Praise to Belgium 161
French Pledge to Restore Belgium 161
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
The Great Test of American Diplomacy
America Surrounded by War 163
Stability of American Government 164
Cost of the War 164
What is Costs to Kill a Man 165
The Red Cross Nurse. Poem 167
Switzerland as a War Hospital 167
America 's Part 168
Dogs for the Red Cross 169
That Graves May Not Be Nameless 170
Rank and File. Dobson 's Poem 170
Stupendous Work of Army Surgeons 170
A Belgian Surgeon's Researches 171
Fatal Wounds From Artillery 173
American Gamblers in Food Supplies
Those Who Corner the Food Markets 177
President Acts to Restrain Rise in Prices 178
American Construction Contrasted With European De-
struction 179
The War and South America
Latin American Trade 183
Direct Steamship Lines 184
Aggressive Action Fair in Trade 185
On the Pacific Coast 186
Undoubted Opportunity 187
American Shipping Bill o 188
War Measures
Military Strategy 190
Fortifications 192
The Concert of Europe 193
How the Great Alliances Were Formed 194
The Triple Alliance 194
The Triple Entente 195
International Arbitration 197
War Songs of the Nations 197
viii CONTENTS
BOOK III
MEANS AND SOURCES OF THE GREAT WAR
PAGE
The Merciless Machinery
Contrasts in the Vision of Heroism 201
Contrasts in Methods and Means 202
Role Played in the Tragedy by Electricity 203
Commands Flashed Across Space 205
Half-Ton Missiles Hurled Seven Miles 207
Cement Forts and Disappearing Gmis 209
The Army of Mercy 211
Submarines 212
Mines in the Present "War 218
Wireless in the Present War 221
Wireless in the Balkan War 224
Portable Wireless in the Field 225
Automobiles in War 226
Airships in War 227
American Devices 228
The Poet's Dream. Tennyson 234
Zeppelin 's Airships 235
War Strength of the Triple Alliance 237
War Strength of the Triple Entente 238
The Age-Long Conflict Between France and Germany
The Ancient Beginning 240
Conflict of a Thousand Years Ago 241
The Weaker Inheritance . 242
Alsace and Lorraine in Every War 243
Metz and Strassburg in Sieges 246
Bismarck 's Idea 247
The ''Zabern Affair," 248
Declaration of the Rights of Man 249
Rival Armaments 251
How Paris Is Defended 253
Hapsburgs, Romanovs, Hohenzollerns
Three Families and Their Cost to Europe 255
The Start of a Bitter Feud 257
CONTENTS
IX
PAGE
Hapsburg Tragedies 258
HohenzoUern Chronicles 281
Reluctant to Rule Over the Russias 264
Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia 266
Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria .^ 266
William II, Emperor of Germany -^-^ 267
King Albert of Belgium at the Front 268
Sentry Refuses the King Admittance to Hospital 269
Side Lights on the' Great Issues
George V, King of Great Britain 271
English Kinship Among Royalty of Europe 272
Mohammedan or Christian 273
Geographical Description of War-Torn Towns 277
The Kingdom of Servia 290
The Austro-Hungarian Empire 292
Belgium 293
The Belgian People 294
The French Republic 298
The German Empire 303
Resources of Germany in 1913 304
The Hohenzollerns 307
The Russian Empire 307
Holland 309
The Hague 311
Colonies of the Warring Nations 312
American Prosperity and the War 315
The Belgian Protest Against Airship Bombs 316
THE DELUGE
As one who dreams a dreadful dream and moans in fitful sleep,
Columbia broods in anguish o'er the hell across the deep,
And, clear-eyed, save for futile tears, she sees great nations sink
With all their brains and manhood under Reason 's level brink.
She sees long years of kindness taken from the human race
And every line of gospel flung into its writer's face.
The war lords snap their fingers and with their insane commands
Brave millions offer up their lives and march to hostile lands.
Among the stars the great god Mars, white hot to thrust and kill,
Is sneering at the tiny ants who crawl to do his will.
The teachings of the Nazarene, the dreams great souls have told
Are trampled 'neath the charger's hoof and sacrificed for Gold.
The peasant in his lowly home sits white-faced and forlorn
To wait the marching thousands with their selfishness and scorn.
To-day he has his little all — his home, his field, his wife ;
To-morrow, when the storm has passed, he will not have his life ;
Or if, perchance, his life be spared for later ghastly scenes.
Among the ruins he will sit and wonder what God means.
Gone all of our illusions and the dreams of peace we wrought,
Forgotten all the lessons that the blood-smeared sword has taught.
The grim retreat from Moscow when Napoleon's legions died,
The awful field of Austerlitz and Jena 's crimson tide ;
The gentler, nobler part of man and all that knowledge brings
Are banished from the Present to appease the lust of kings.
Afar we hear the charger's scream, the slim boy's dying moan,
As on the red and ravaged field he sobs to God alone;
Afar we see the plodding hosts go blindly to their fate
Like dumb and willing cattle driven through a country gate.
As one who dreams a dreadful dream and moans in fitful sleep
Columbia broods in anguish o'er the hell across the deep
— William F. Kirk.
10
BOOK I
Survey of the World-Staggering
Disaster to Humanity
The impossible has happened. The incredible has
forced itself into flaming facts.
The calamity that has fallen upon the world is
utterly beyond description or comprehension.
The green fields are stained with blood; houses,
factories, and cities are battered down.
Human lives are burned up like coals in a furnace.
Death and agony inconceivable, and no man can.
truly say why the killing or why the war.
Years of science, civilization, and peace end in the
greatest, bloodiest, most brutal war, as unnecessary
as any that the world has known.
Words are meaningless ; description is futile. The
world's higher power for destruction — civilization
transformed into a great international cutthroat —
that is the picture this earth presents after nineteen
centuries of ' ' Christianity. ' '
The world is reminded now of the power with
which Carlyle described war's horror:
''Horrible enough! A whole marchfield strewed
with shell splinters, cannon shot, ruined tumbrils,
and dead men and horses, stragglers still remaining
11
12 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
not so mucli as buried. And those red mould heaps :
Ay, there lie the shells of men, out of which all the
life and virtue have been blown; and now are they
swept together and crammed down out of sight, like
blown egg-shells ! ' '
The greatest single fighting force ever marshaled
in history now goes from mobilization to war. The
impending collision will be with Europe; the crash
will shake the world.
Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Belgmm,
France, Portugal, Servia, and Japan have sprung
into the arena, each screaming out that the other fel-
low began it, each loaded down with arms and troops,
yet claiming a desire only to keep the peace.
They all solemnly swear they are on the defensive ;
and they are all trying to strike the first offensive
blow.
THE GEEATEST CAUSE OF WAR
Dr. Frank Crane has said editorially a great truth,
as follows:
' ' The greatest cause for war is military prepared-
ness. When a nation spends millions of dollars for
fireworks, sooner or later they want to see them fired
off. When five hundred thousand young men have
been practising with guns for years, by and by they
want to shoot somebody."
THE RAGE FOR DESTRUCTION"
Gunpowder has blown the boundaries of European
nations into torn and twisted lines many times dur-
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR 13
ing the last 125 years. Then, through a retaliatory
fate, the same mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and
charcoal has battered to debris the barriers marking
the new borders and restored the old. The political
topography of Europe bids fair to undergo another
violent reconstruction through the same pitiless
explosive as an outcome of the present gigantic
struggle.
No nation has ever had the opportunity now before
this country to prove that ^' Peace hath its victories
no less renowned than war."
Indeed, 3^ears hence, when history finally records
the results of the cataclysm into which Europe has
plunged the whole world, it will be written, we hope
and believe, that the United States, great as it was
before the conflict, won the most gigantic and most
lasting triumph in the annals of all time by stead-
fastly remaining at peace.
Our people have a mission to perform for man-
kind — an ideal to keep resolutely and fearlessly in
mind, so that in the centuries to come, civilization
can point to our course as an inspiring and convinc-
ing demonstration that a nation's enduring achieve-
ments and noblest blessings to its own and to others
are in peace, not in war.
Slaughtering each other by the hundreds simply
because they live on different sides of a geographi-
cal boundary line is not the true mission of man on
earth, nor will civilization long applaud the prowess
of the man or nation that boasts of having swept the
greatest number of human beings from earth by the
14 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
sword. The world has never seen a conflict of arms
on such a gigantic scale as that which has just begun
abroad, and where it will end is as far beyond human
comprehension as Eternity itself.
THE TASK OF AMEEICA
Firm in this faith, let us hold ourselves happy in
this republic. We are, perhaps, to be the saviors of
the civilization imperiled by the sudden breaking
down of the machinery of civilized society abroad.
But we shall not work alone. The aroused and indig-
nant energy of other nations will soon unite with us,
that social order does not perish from the earth,
and that, out of European chaos, a real and substan-
tial advance shall come to human welfare.
IMPERIAL MILITARISM AND RELIGION"
Of the fourteen hundred millions of human beings
on this earth, nearly all pray to some god.
And the nations at war in Europe all pray to the
same god. A hideous, pathetic, pitiful sight that God
looks down upon, as he turns his eyes toward the
praying murderers that look up to Him, each asking
for victory.
''Help me, O God, to capture that town, though I
kill all the women and children," one ruler prays,
and thinks that God will answer and help him.
''Help me, O God, to defend this city, to* kill the
men that besiege it, to attack their city in turn and
destroy it, though I kill all their women and chil-
THE WOELD-STAGGERING WAR • 15
dren," and the praying man believes that God is with
him and will help him in his plans of murder.
Butchery by day and night on the water, on the
land and in the air, prayers asking the Creator of the
world to help them in their killing, seventeen millions
of armed men ready for the game of murder, indus-
try dead, agriculture dead, science, progress, every
good power on the earth, paralyzed.
And that is war.
PRAYER OF THE WAR-LORD
God of my Fathers, grant me aid
That I may rout my countless foes!
By Thee were guns and cannons made,
From Thee the joy of battle flows.
God, who gave me might and power,
Thou knowest that my heart is pure..
Be with me in this awful hour,
That I and mine may still endure.
Thou art the God who loveth war,
And famine, rapine, blood and death ;
1 pray Thee stand beside me, for
Thou knowest what my spirit saith.
The soul of me is linked with Thine
To bid the blood of heroes flow.
The death we grant them is divine,
And in Thy name I bid them go.
God of my Fathers, still be kind
To them who raise Thy banner high,
While Thou and I together find
The surest way for them to die.
16 • THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
They do my bidding, God, look down
And bless the sword that I have drawn.
My blight shall fall on field and town.
And thousands shall not see the dawn.
To Thee, God, I give all praise
That Thou hast made my hand so strong ;
That now, as in my father's days.
The King and Thee can do no wrong.
— Edward S. Van Zile.
To be neutral as a people and to keep ourselves as
individuals free from the inflaming toucli of war
passion, is the clear duty of every American.
The President of the United States, from the bed-
side of his dying wife, appealed to the nations for
some means of reaching peace for Europe. The last
thoughts of the dying helpmate was for the great
responsibility of her husband in this awful crisis in
the life of nations.
The Pope was stricken to death by the great calam-
ity to civilization. A few minutes before the end
came, he said that the Almighty in His infinite mercy
was removing him from the world to spare him the
anguish of the av/ful war.
The last message sent out to his followers over the
world was given in a dispatch as follows :
At this moment, when nearly the whole of Europe is being
dragged into the vortex of a most terrible war, with its present
dangers and miseries, and the consequences to follow, the
thought of which mast strike every one with grief and horror,
we, whose care is the life and welfare of so many citizens and
THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR 17
peoples, cannot but be deeply moved and our heart wrung with
the bitterest sorrow.
And in the midst of this universal confusion and peril, we feel
and know that both fatherly love and apostolic ministry demand
of us that we should with all earnestness turn the thoughts of
Christendom thither, "whence cometh help" — ^to Christ, the
Prince of Peace and the most powerful mediator between God
and man.
We charge, therefore, the Catholics of the whole world to
approach the throne of Grace and Mercy, each and all of them,
and more especially the clergy, whose duty furthermore it will
be to make in every parish, as their bishops shall direct, public
supplication, so that the merciful God may, as it were, be wearied
with the prayers of His children and speedily remove the evil
causes of war, giving to them who rule to think the thoughts of
peace and not of affliction.
From the palace of the Vatican, the second day of August,
1914. PIIJ8 X, Pontifex Maximus.
JUDGMENT SOME DAY
Somewhere, above this war of hate,
God broods upon His throne;
He scans the running sands of Fate,
And sees the end — alone.
Somewhere, above these stricken lands,
Almighty God looks down :
Perhaps with ruthless, guiding hands,
Perhaps with angry frown.
Whether He planned this scourge of flame.
No man to-day can tell ;
These kings all call upon His name
To bless their shot and shell.
18 THE WORLD-STAGGERING WAR
Whether behind this drama dark,
God moves or devils lurk,
Swinging his scythe in widening arc,
The Reaper is at work.
We sicken at the awful cost,
Youth slaughtered, genius slain,
Mercy forgotten, pity lost,
Blood soaking hill and plain..
But some day those who rule these lands
Shall face God's judgment throne,
With naked hearts and reddened hands,
Unguarded and alone.
With those who died and those who wept.
These kings shall answer God
For plains and cities cannon swept.
For ruin spread abroad.
His voice shall give them their reward
For all eternal time ;
Forgiveness if He desired the sword,
Or His curse for a godless crime.
— William C. Stevens in Chicago Herald.
CENSOESHIP
The Aemageddon" of Moderit History Fought In"
THE Black Silence of Midnight, Hidden From
THE Sight of the World.
As IF to stand as an example for scripture, wMch
declares that ** everyone tliat doeth evil hateth the
light," the mighty inventions for communication
over the earth have been cut into silence as deep as
in any period of the dark ages.
In order to strike the deadliest blows at unex-
pected, and therefore undefended, spots, all knowl-
edge of war operations are suppressed.
the censorship puts us back a century
A hundred years ago the United States was at war
with England, and the burning of Washington, the
, battle of Fort Erie and the attack on Baltimore, dur-
ing which Key wrote his ''Star-Spangled Banner,"
were events of thrilling interest. But news traveled
slowly 100 years ago. It was days before New York
knew what had happened, and then only through the
use of relays of couriers rushing on horseback over
roads that were none of the best. Since then we have
developed a vast mechanism for the collection and
distribution of news.
And now, due to the censorship, the mechanism is
almost useless, and we are back not so very far from
19
20 CENSORSHIP
where people were a century ago. It is hard to miag-
ine that while the battle of Waterloo was being
fought on June 18, London was just receiving the
news of the reverse of the Prussians at Ligny on the
sixteenth. Even on the twentieth, the Times an-
nounced only that '^a Mr. Sutton had heard the news
of a great victory, '^ the official announcement not
coming until the next day.
The instant dissemination of war news reached its
highest point in the Spanish-American War. Ever
since then the more rigorous censorships established
by combatants have interfered with efficient news
gathering until to-day the minds attempting to the
limit of their capacity to grasp and understand the
events in Europe can secure but the sorriest and most
unstable data from which to extract a true concep-
tion of what is going on. It is but another instance
of the retroactive effects of war that the great record-
ing instrument so carefully built up during the past
century now is rendered useless.
HOW IT WOEKS IN" THE WAR-RIDDEN LANDS
The soldiers in the field see only the narrow ring
about them. War correspondents say that German
prisoners expressed surprise on finding that they had
been fighting Belgians. Uhlan officers could not
understand how English officers could be on the
French staff.
See already how it has worked out in France :
''Families left behind never receive news from
their soldiers. Those who have gone have just
CENSORSHIP 21
stepped out — been swallowed up. Their families may
write to tiiemj in special envelopes addressed to the
war office, but they will never know Avhere tliey are
until tliey come liome again. So secretly, so silently,
is tlie war being waged."
This is the silence that hangs over every home in
France. And here is the way in which any day may
see it broken :
''If the soldiers do not come home again, a card
from the war office will come, saying: ' ,
belonging to you, has fallen on the field of honor. ' ' '
That is all.
HEROES AND HEROIC DEEDS
What becomes of the heroes ? It would seem that
nations are eager to thrill over tidings of brave men
and heroic deeds brought all fresh and inspiring
from the front. All news is reduced to cold, bare
bulletins of geography and net results.
Modern warfare, so far as we are permitted to see
it at work, appears to be a gigantic, soulless mecha-
nism, turning its blood-smeared wheels in darkness,
traceable only by the dead and wounded that pile
higher and higher behind it.
THE CRY OF THE WOMEN
They tell us of wars and rumors of wars,
And the orders of kings to men,
And little they heed of the sorrow decreed
By the stroke of a ruler's pen.
22 CENSOESHIP
And little they care for child and for wife,
When the wife and the child make moan,
While nations fight for their ruler's greed,
And the fighter dies alone.
The woman with hair like sunset gold,
The woman with hair like coal.
Each of them loses the love of her life,
The man that is half of her soul.
Aye ! you that flatter a ruler 's greed,
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