untered some of the most
severe fighting of the war and pressed forward steadily against the most
stubborn resistance from the enemy. On the 6th of November, reported
General Pershing, "a division of the first corps reached a point on the
Meuse opposite Sedan, twenty-five miles from our line of departure. The
strategical goal which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the
enemy's main line of communications and nothing but a surrender or an
armistice could save his army from complete disaster." Five days later
the end came. On the morning of November 11, the order to cease firing
went into effect. The German army was in rapid retreat and
demoralization had begun. The Kaiser had abdicated and fled into
Holland. The Hohenzollern dreams of empire were shattered. In the
fifty-second month, the World War, involving nearly every civilized
nation on the globe, was brought to a close. More than 75,000 American
soldiers and sailors had given their lives. More than 250,000 had been
wounded or were missing or in German prison camps.

[Illustration: WESTERN BATTLE LINES OF THE VARIOUS YEARS OF THE
WORLD WAR]

THE SETTLEMENT AT PARIS

=The Peace Conference.=--On January 18, 1919, a conference of the Allied
and Associated Powers assembled to pronounce judgment upon the German
empire and its defeated satellites: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Turkey. It was a moving spectacle. Seventy-two delegates spoke for
thirty-two states. The United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and
Japan had five delegates each. Belgium, Brazil, and Serbia were each
assigned three. Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, China, Greece,
Hedjaz, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Siam, and Czechoslovakia were
allotted two apiece. The remaining states of New Zealand, Bolivia, Cuba,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru,
and Uruguay each had one delegate. President Wilson spoke in person for
the United States. England, France, and Italy were represented by their
premiers: David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Vittorio Orlando.

[Illustration: PREMIERS LLOYD GEORGE, ORLANDO AND CLEMENCEAU AND
PRESIDENT WILSON AT PARIS]

=The Supreme Council.=--The real work of the settlement was first
committed to a Supreme Council of ten representing the United States,
Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. This was later reduced to five
members. Then Japan dropped out and finally Italy, leaving only
President Wilson and the Pre