an and Austrian Armies failed to bring under review
the moral of the nations against whom their armies were to be launched
in July, 1914. The Spirit of France had shown no signs of
deterioration, but was to be quelled by a rapid advance through neutral
territories, to bring about a bewildered collapse, as in 1870, before
the Russian mobilisation was complete, and "Nous sommes trahis" was
again to be heard from the disheartened troops. But the calm
determination of the commander and his generals in the dark days of
August, 1914, prevented the bewildered collapse, and the _Defence of
Verdun_ from February to August, 1916, and the cheers of the _poilus_,
as they recaptured the _Chemin des Dames_ in April-July, 1917, replaced
the capitulation of Sedan and of Metz and the "Nous sommes trahis" of
1870.

GREAT BRITAIN.--Britain was not expected to take an active part in the
struggle, and if she did the affairs of Ireland, the Suffragette
movement, and the general decadence of the nation would prevent a
whole-hearted prosecution of the war. A small force only could be sent
to Europe; it would be swallowed up in the "bewildered collapse," and
no reinforcements could be spared. The extent of the miscalculation is
shown in Mr. Lloyd George's speech in the House of Commons on July 3,
1919, in which the Prime Minister stated that the British Empire had
put 7,700,000 men under arms, had raised 9,500,000,000 pounds in taxes
and loans, and had suffered upwards of 8,000,000 casualties on land and
{17} sea. It was also shown that during the last two years of the war
the British armies had borne the brunt of the heaviest fighting on the
Western Front in France and at the same time had destroyed the armed
forces of the Turkish Empire in the East. The risk of compelling
Britain to take part was undertaken, and the first great strategical
blunder of the war was committed.

AMERICA.--In the third year of the War America had gradually been
brought into the arena, and a further miscalculation arrayed the
hundred millions of a free and united nation against the autocracies of
Central Europe.

LORD ROBERTS.--Other brains than German had considered the possibility
of an armed conflict in Europe. For many years Lord Roberts had
advocated universal military service in the United Kingdom, as a
procedure beneficial in itself, and imperative on account of the clear
intentions of the Headquarters Staff of the German Army. "Germany
strikes wh