inflicted on a prominent nation; while the Kaiser and Crown Prince had
fled for safety to Holland, a nation they had asserted existed only by
the long sufferance of Germany. Before the fatal day (November 11,
1918) of the armistice--like the falling of a house of cards--had
occurred a succession of abject surrenders, as one by one of the nations
composing the Teutonic Alliance had fallen before the crushing blows of
the Entente forces.

The middle of July the great German offensive was held. It was expected
by the German leaders that, as in the past, there would now ensue a
period of comparative quiet along the west front during which Germany
could rearrange her forces, perhaps to open an attack elsewhere. Marshal
Foch--ably seconded by General Pershing and General Haig--thought
differently. There were one million American soldiers on the fighting
line, other millions were coming, Great Britain had thrown into France
her reserve army held in England to meet unforeseen emergencies. Then
was the time to begin a counter-attack. Accordingly, just as a German
official was explaining to the Reichstag that General Foch had no
reserves to withstand a fresh onslaught that Germany would soon
begin,--the blow fell. A great counter-attack was initiated by the
French and Americans along the Marne-Aisne front July 18, 1918.

THE ALLIES TAKE THE INITIATIVE.

From that day to the signing of the armistice the initiative remained
with General Foch. Up and down the long line, now here, now there; the
British and Belgians on the north, the French and Americans on the
south, first one, then the other, then together, the Allies drove
forward with hammer blows on the yielding German armies. That subtle
force, so hard to define, the morale of the invaders, was broken down.
Their confidence was gone. They knew they were defeated. The one hope of
their leaders was to get safely back to Germany, and soon a general
retreat was in progress. But to remove armies aggregating several
million men, with guns and supplies, from a contracted area, in the face
of a victorious and aggressive enemy, without the retreat degenerating
into a rout is almost impossible; it requires generalship of highest
order. Day by day the remorseless jaws of the Allied military machine,
hinged to the north of the Aisne,--British and Belgian forces on the
north, French in the center, Americans on the south and east,--were
closing, and when the American forces fought their