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the historic words of its King to the insolent Germans, "Belgium is a
country, not a road," and stood firm, a David of the Nations, against
the onslaught of the most awful and bloody hordes the world has seen
since Attila, the other Hun, drove with his swarming savages over
Europe, centuries ago, roaring that grass would never grow again where
their horses trod.

Civilization had been justified. The "scrap of paper" had come to life.
It was a great day, an hour of right and might, a soul-stirring climax
to a most stupendous drama. The hero rode in triumph; and the villain,
after ignominious flight, was hiding behind the skirts of a Dutchwoman,
over the border.

No finer troops marched through Brussels on this gala day than the
Yanks, who were given a conspicuous place in the celebration. A
battalion of infantry from the Ninety-First American Division and a
battery from the Fifty-Third Brigade, fresh from the beating they had
given the Huns at Oudenark a few days before, were prominent in the
lines, and shared in the plaudits a liberated people showered upon their
own heroic troops. Troops that had held the last strip of Belgian soil
through all those bitter years with a tenacity the Huns could never
shake. These Belgian soldiers, had, of course, the place of honor.
French and British troops, with bands playing and colors flying, shared
in the glorious triumph.

The King and the royal family rode at the head of two Belgian
divisions - a column of veterans stretching out fifteen miles. The day
was like midsummer - bright and fair. All the roads leading to the Rue
Royale and the Boulevard Anspach were packed hours before the King's
arrival. At the Port de Flandre the throngs were so dense they were
impassable. The whole city was gorgeously decorated. Aircraft were
overhead, dropping confetti. The balconies all along the route were
draped with flags and colored banners, and filled with people who, when
the King and his family rode by, showered them with flowers and little
flags. At one place a company of five hundred young women sang the
Brabanconne, the Belgian national song, and the American, French and
British national anthems.

The royal progress ended at the Palais de la Nation, where the King
dismounted and entered, to address the parliament in its first assembly
after the war - an historic session. Then he reviewed the troops in the
great square, and thence went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the
address of the Burgomaster Max, that sturdy figure, which the Germans at
the height of their tyranny had not been able to budge.

AMERICA'S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES

When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States
land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men. Of these
about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front. The
others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other
fronts. Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men
each day.

Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies
of every kind from home, and a transport system surpassing that of
any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief
workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has
ever seen.

The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard
gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American
manufacture. In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars
of foreign origin. To meet demands which the existing French railways
were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were
constructed. Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918.

The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and
140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation.
Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the
Americans.

But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern
warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in
figures this phase of the work of the American army.

In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required,
in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war
transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions,
American engineers worked day and night. The whole region behind the
American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it
of a character never seen before in Europe.

To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation
November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions.

The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations,
had the war continued.

One ration represents the quantity of each article each man is entitled
to daily. It is interesting to note the supply of some of the principal
ration components on hand.

The Americans had 390,000,000 rations of beans alone, 183,000,
rations of flour and flour substitutes, 267,000,000 rations of milk;
161,000,000 rations of butter or substitutes; 143,000,000 rations of
sugar; 89,000,000 rations of meat; 57,000,000 rations of coffee and
113,000,000 rations of rice, hominy and other foods, with requisites
such as flavorings, fruits, candy and potatoes in proportion, while for
smokers, there were 761,000,000 rations of cigarettes and tobacco in
other forms.

It is difficult to describe in exact figures what the American
expeditionary forces have done in the construction and improvement of
dockage and warehouses since the first troops landed. This work has
been proportionate to the whole effort in other directions. Ten steamer
berths have been built at Bordeaux, having a total length of 4,100 feet.
At Montoir, near St. Nazaire, eight berths were under construction with
a total length of over 3,200 feet.

Great labor had been expended in dredging operations, repairing French
docks and increasing railway terminal facilities. Warehouses having
an aggregate floor area of almost 23,000,000 square feet had been
constructed. This development of French ports increased facilities to
such an extent that even if the Germans had captured Calais and other
channel ports, as they had planned, the allies' loss would have been
strategically unimportant.

So largely were facilities increased that the English armies could have
had their bases at the lower French ports, if necessary. In other words,
American work in port construction lessened to a material degree the
value to the Germans of their proposed capture of the channel ports.

These figures serve in a measure to show the magnitude of American
accomplishments, and the great machine is in operation today as the
American Third army moves forward into German territory.

During the second stage of the Argonne operation a captured German
major, while in casual conversation with an American officer said: "We
know defeat is inevitable. We know your First and Second armies are
operating and that your Third army is nearly ready to function. We know
there are more and more armies to follow. We can measure your effort.
The end must come soon."

AMERICAN FORCES AND CASUALTIES

At the opening of November, 1918, the United States armies on all fronts
numbered about 2,200,000 men, and was being increased at an average rate
of 250,000 a month. In transit from home ports to ports in Europe and
Siberia, only one transport ship was lost, and of its complement of
troops 126 men were drowned. The sinking was caused by collision with
another ship in the same convoy, not by an enemy submarine. The United
States has not lost one man in transport, by an act of a hostile ship or
submarine.

Army and marine casualties reported by the commanders of overseas forces
to the government at Washington up to November 27th, 1918 (after the
seventeenth month of our participation in the war), were as follows:

Killed in action, 28,363; died of wounds, 12,101; died of disease,
16,034; died of other causes, 1,980; wounded, 189,995 (of this number
92,036 only slightly wounded); missing in action and prisoners, 14,250;
making a total numbering 262,723.

War Department reports show that over-seas Air Service Casualties
to October 24th, 1918, were 128 battle fatalities and 224 killed in
accidents.

TOTAL OF CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES COMPARED ARE AS FOLLOWS

Federal troops killed in action, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of
disease, 224,586; making total Federal fatalities 334,656.

Confederates killed and died of wounds, 95,000; died of disease,
164,000; making the total Confederate fatalities 259,000.

According to the War Department records, total dead of the Civil War is
618,524.

BRITISH, FRENCH AND ITALIAN LOSSES

British losses are estimated at 1,000,000 killed and 2,049,991 wounded,
missing and prisoners.

The French losses are over 1,500,000 in killed and over 3,000,000 in
wounded and prisoners.

The Italian losses, including casualties and prisoners, are estimated at
a total of 2,000,000, including 500,000 dead.

7,589 CASUALTIES IN ROYAL AIR FORCES

Casualties in the royal air forces from April, 1918, when the air forces
were amalgamated, to Nov. 11, were: Killed, 2,680; wounded, missing
and prisoners, 4,909, according to an official statement by the air
ministry.

CANADA'S CASUALTIES

Canada's casualty list up to November 1, 1918 (eleven days before the
armistice), totaled 211,358, classified as follows: Killed in action,
34,877; died of wounds or disease, 15,457; wounded, 152,779; presumed
dead, missing in action and known prisoners of war, 8,245. Canada's
total land forces numbered nearly a half million men; that is, over
eighty per cent of the men of the Dominion of military age, who were
physically fit. They constituted over forty per cent of the male
population. It is a strange coincidence of figures that the losses above
enumerated constitute just about the same per cent (forty) of the armed
forces, that those forces bore to the young nation's total manhood.
Canada's efforts and sacrifices in the war have not been fully
understood. When they are, they will evoke the admiration of the world,
and of history.

GERMAN LOSSES

Exact figures covering, German losses since August 1st, 1914, when
the war began with the German invasion of Belgium, cannot be had. The
records are kept at Berlin and their figures have been withheld from
even the people of Germany.

The only estimates available are those made by commanders opposing the
German forces, and these were confessedly cautious, the allied policy
being to minimize estimates of enemy reverses, so that no false
encouragement might reach the public in any of the allied countries. On
this basis, the estimates approximate a German loss of over 1,580,
killed and 4,490,000 disabled, prisoners, and missing, a total of
6,070,000.

The Austrian losses in killed are estimated at 800,000 and 3,200,
prisoners, wounded and missing.

TOTAL LOSSES

The world's actual loss of men in the war is estimated at not less than
10,000,000, counting those killed in action, died of wounds, or dead
from other causes in prison camps or in the field.

These estimates do not include 800,000 Armenian Christians massacred by
the Turks at the order of the German general staff, nor the Belgian and
French civilians starved to death, infected with typhus and tuberculosis
by hypodermic injection, or murdered outright by German soldiery under
orders, nor the German wholesale slaughter of Serbians, of Greeks in
Asia Minor, nor similar victims in Poland, Lithuania and southwest
Russia, outnumbering no doubt the total loss of fighting men in all the
armies. It is not likely these murders of noncombatants can ever be
counted up.

GERMANY'S NAVAL SURRENDER

Surrender of the German navy and delivery of its ships to the Grand
Fleet (consisting of the British and United States navies), began
November 21, 1918, just ten days after the armistice was signed Ninety
German ships of all grades constituted the first delivery. Admiral Sims,
of the American Navy, King George and the Prince of Wales, were aboard
the Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of Admiral Beatty, commanding the
Grand Fleet. Five hundred British and American war vessels were in the
receiving lines, and convoyed the surrendered German ships to the Firth
of Forth, just below Edinburgh, Scotland, where they will lie until
their disposal is determined. Among the German vessels surrendered that
day were sixty submarines.

Other deliveries of German war vessels were continued. On November 29th
it was discovered that of the 360 submarines of all types built by the
Germans, the Grand Fleet had destroyed or captured 200. Of the remaining
160 nearly all had been surrendered by that date. This being the exact
number called to surrender by the terms of the armistice, it would
appear the allied conference was fully informed to that effect, and
thereby was enabled to strip Germany of the last of these vessels, whose
record of murder and piracy at sea is without any precedent whatever in
history.

FORMER KAISERIN WEEPS

The meeting of former Emperor William and the former empress at
Amerongen is described by a Dutch correspondent as follows:

"The gates were thrown open, the drawbridge was lowered with a noise of
chains and iron bars that sounded very medieval, and in the courtyard
before the castle an elderly man in a gray military cloak was seen at a
distance, walking slowly and leaning on his stick. It was the ex-kaiser.
The ex-kaiserin's car was driven into the courtyard, the ex-kaiser threw
down his stick and, before the valet was able, opened the door and
handed out his wife.

"They shook hands and then threw themselves into each other's arms,
the ex-kaiserin falling upon her husband's shoulder and crying like a
child."

FORMER KAISER'S ACT OF RENUNCIATION

The text of the former German emperor's act of renunciation, which was
issued by the New German government, "in order to reply to certain
misunderstandings which have arisen with regard to the abdication,"
follows:

_By the present document I renounce forever my rights to the crown of
Prussia and the rights to the German imperial crown. I release, at the
same time, all the officials of the German empire and Prussia, and also
all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Prussian
navy and army and of contingents from confederate states from the oath
of fidelity they have taken to me._

_As their emperor, king and supreme chief, I expect from them, until a
new organization of the German empire exists, that they will aid those
who effectively hold the power in Germany to protect the German people
against the menacing dangers of anarchy, famine and foreign domination._

_Made and executed and signed by our own hand with the imperial seal at
Amerongen Nov. 28._

_WILLIAM_.

PERSHING PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS MEN

In closing his preliminary report to the Secretary of War, made public
on December 4, 1918, General Pershing expresses his feeling for the men
who served with him, as follows:

"I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the line.
When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their
unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I
am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have earned the
eternal gratitude of our country."


CHAPTER XXXV.

CHRONOLOGY OF WORLD WAR

_Comprehensive Chronology of the Four Years of War - Dates of Important
Battles and Naval Engagements - Ready Reference of Historical Events from
June, 1914, to End of War in 1918._


June 28 - Archduke Ferdinand and wife assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

July 28 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

August 1 - Germany declares war on Russia and general mobilization is
under way in France and Austria-Hungary. Aug. 2 - German troops enter
France at Cirey; Russian troops enter Germany at Schwidden; German army
enters Luxemburg over protest, and Germany asks Belgium for free passage
of her troops. Aug. 3 - British fleet mobilizes; Belgium appeals to Great
Britain for diplomatic aid and German ambassador quits Paris.

Aug. 4 - France declares war on Germany; Germany declares war on Belgium;
Great Britain sends Belgium neutrality ultimatum to Germany; British
army mobilized and state of war between Great Britain and Germany
is declared. President Wilson issues neutrality proclamation. Aug.
5 - Germans begin fighting on Belgium frontier; Germany asks for Italy's
help. Aug. 6 - Austria declares war on Russia. Aug. 7 - Germans defeated
by French at Altkirch. Aug. 9 - Germans capture Liege. Portugal announces
it will support Great Britain; British land troops in France. Aug.
10 - France declares war on Austria-Hungary.

Aug. 12 - Great Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; Montenegro
declares war on Germany. Aug. 15 - Japan sends ultimatum to Germany to
withdraw from Japanese and Chinese waters and evacuate Kiao-chow; Russia
offers autonomy to Poland. Aug. 20 - German army enters Brussels. Aug.
23 - Japan declares war on Germany; Russia victorious in battles in East
Prussia. Aug. 24 - Japanese warships bombard Tsingtao. Aug. 25 - Japan
and Austria break off diplomatic relations. Aug. 28 - English win naval
battle over German fleet near Helgoland, Aug. 29 - Germans defeat
Russians at Allenstein; occupy Amiens; advance to La Fere, sixty-five
miles from Paris.

September 1 - Germans cross Marne; bombs dropped on Paris; Turkish army
mobilized; Zeppelins drop bombs on Antwerp. Sept. 2 - Government of
France transferred to Bordeaux; Russians capture Lemberg. Sept.
4 - Germans cross the Marne. Sept. 5 - England, France, and Russia sign
pact to make no separate peace. Sept. 6 - French win battle of Marne;
British cruiser Path finder sunk in North sea by a German submarine.
Sept. 7 - Germans retreat from the Marne. Sept. 14 - Battle of Aisne
starts; German retreat halted. Sept. 15 - -First battle of Soissons
fought. Sept. 20 - Russians capture Jaroslau and begin siege of Przemysl.

October 9-10 - Germans capture Antwerp. Oct. 12 - Germans take Ghent. Oct.
20 - Fighting along Yser river begins. Oct. 29 - Turkey begins war on
Russia.

November 7 - Tsingtro falls before Japanese troops. Nov. 9 - German
cruiser Emden destroyed.

December 11 - German advance on Warsaw checked. Dec. 14 - Belgrade
recaptured by Serbians. Dec. 16 - German cruisers bombard Scarborough,
Hartlepool, and Whitby, on English coast, killing fifty or more persons;
Austrians said to have lost upwards of 100,000 men in Serbian defeat.
Dec. 25 - Italy occupies Avlona, Albania.


January 1 - British battleship Formidable sunk. Jan. 8 - Roumania
mobilizes 750,000 men; violent fighting in the Argonne. Jan. 11 - Germans
cross the Rawka, thirty miles from Warsaw. Jan. 24 - British win naval
battle in North sea. Jan. 29 - Russian army invades Hungary; German
efforts to cross Aisne repulsed.

February 1 - British repel strong German attack near La Bassee. Feb.
2 - Turks are defeated in attack on Suez canal. Feb. 4 - Russians capture
Tarnow in Galicia. Feb. 8 - Turks along Suez canal in full retreat;
Turkish land defenses at the Dardanelles shelled by British torpedo
boats. Feb. 11 - Germans evacuate Lodz. Feb. 12 - Germans drive Russians
from positions in East Prussia, taking 26,000 prisoners. Feb.
14 - Russians report capture of fortifications at Smolnik. Feb.
16 - Germans capture Plock and Bielsk in Poland; French capture two miles
of German trenches in Champagne district.

February 17 - Germans report they have taken 50,000 Russian prisoners in
Mazurian lake district. Feb. 18 - German blockade of English and French
coasts put into effect. Feb. 19-20 - British and French fleets bombard
Dardanelles forts. Feb. 21 - American steamer Evelyn sunk by mine in
North sea. Feb. 22 - German war office announces capture of 100,
Russian prisoners in engagements in Mazurian lake region; American
steamer Carib sunk by mine in North sea. Feb. 28 - Dardanelles entrance
forts capitulate to English and French.

March 4 - Landing of allied troops on both sides of Dardanelles straits
reported; German U-4 sunk by French destroyers. March 10 - Battle of
Neuve Chapelle begins. March, 14 - German cruiser Dresden sunk in Pacific
by English. March 18 - British battleships Irresistible and Ocean and
French battleship Bouvet sunk in Dardanelles strait. March 22 - Fort
of Przemysl surrenders to Russians. March 23 - Allies land troops on
Gallipoli peninsula. March 25 - Russians victorious over Austrians in
Carpathians.

April 8 - German auxiliary cruiser, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, interned at
Newport News, Va. April 16 - Italy has 1,200,000 men mobilized under
arms; Austrians report complete defeat of Russians in Carpathian
campaign. April 23 - Germans force way across Ypres canal and take 1,
prisoners. April 25 - Allies stop German drive on Ypres line in Belgium.
April 29 - British report regaining of two-thirds of lost ground in Ypres
battle.

May 7 - Liner Lusitania torpedoed and sunk by German submarine off the
coast of Ireland with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, 102 Americans.
May 9 - French advance two and one-half miles against German forces north
of Arras, taking 2,000 prisoners. May 23 - Italy declares war on Austria.

June 3 - Germans recapture Przemysl with Austrian help. June 18 - British
suffer defeat north of La Bassee canal. June 28 - Italians enter Austrian
territory south of Riva on western shore of Lake Garda.

July 3 - Tolmino falls into Italian hands. July 9 - British make
gains north of Ypres and French retake trenches in the Vosges. July
13 - Germans defeated in the Argonne. July 29 - Warsaw evacuated; Lublin
captured by Austrians.

August 4 - Germans occupy Warsaw. Aug. 14 - Austrians and Germans
concentrate 400,000 soldiers on Serbian frontier. Aug. 21 - Italy
declares war on Turkey.

September 1 - Ambassador Bernstorff announces Germans will sink no more
liners without warning. Sept. 4 - German submarine torpedoes liner
Hesperian. Sept. 9 - Germans make air raid on London, killing twenty
persons and wounding 100 others; United States asks Austria to recall
Ambassador Dumba. Sept. 20 - Germans begin drive on Serbia to open route
to Turkey. Sept. 22 - Russian army retreating from Vilna, escapes German
encircling movement. Sept. 25-30 - Battle of Champagne, resulting in
great advance for allied armies and causing Kaiser Wilhelm to rush to
the west front; German counter attacks repulsed.

October 5 - Russia and Bulgaria sever diplomatic relations; Russian,
French, British, Italian, and Serbian diplomatic representatives ask for
passports in Sofia. Oct. 10 - Gen. Mackensen's forces take Belgrade. Oct.
12 - Edith Cavell executed by Germans. Oct. 13 - Bulgaria declares war on
Serbia. Oct. 15 - Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Oct. 16 - France
declares war on Bulgaria. Oct. 19 - Russia and Italy declare war on
Bulgaria. Oct. 27 - Germans join Bulgarians in northeastern Serbia and
open way to Constantinople. Oct. 30 - Germans defeated at Mitau.

November 9 - Italian liner Ancona torpedoed.

December 1 - British retreat from near Bagdad. Dec. 4 - Ford "peace party"
sails for Europe. Dec. 8-9 - Allies defeated in Macedonia. Dec. 15 - Sir
John Douglas Haig succeeds Sir John French as chief of English Armies on
west front.


January 8 - British troops at Kut-el-Amara surrounded. Jan. 9 - British
evacuate Gallipoli peninsula. Jan. 13 - Austrians capture Cetinje,
capital of Montenegro. Jan. 23 - Scutari, capital of Albania, captured by
Austrians.

February 22 - Crown prince's army begins attack on Verdun.

March 8 - Germany declares war on Portugal. March, 15 - Austria-Hungary
declares war on Portugal. March 24 - Steamer Sussex torpedoed and sunk.

April 18 - President Wilson sends note to Germany. April 19 - President
Wilson speaks to congress, explaining diplomatic situation. April
24 - Insurrection in Dublin. April 29 - British troops at Kut-el-Amara
surrender to Turks. April 30 - Irish revolution suppressed.

May 3 - Irish leaders of _insurrection executed_. May 4 - Germany makes
promise to change methods of submarine warfare. May 13 - Austrians begin
great offensive against Italians in Trentino. May 31 - Great naval battle
off Danish coast.

June 5 - Lord Kitchener lost with cruiser Hampshire. June 11 - Russians
capture Dubno. June 29 - Sir Roger Casement sentenced to be hanged for
treason.

July 1 - British and French begin great offensive on the Somme. July
6 - David Lloyd George appointed secretary of war. July 9 - German
merchant submarine Deutschland arrives at Baltimore. July 23 - Gen.
Kuropatkin's army wins battle near Riga. July 27 - English take Delville