t of the world.

[Illustration: Map: Europe, North Africa, East Asia.]
THE WAR ZONE ESTABLISHED BY GERMANY, FEBRUARY, 1917, THAT BROUGHT
AMERICA INTO THE WAR.

CHAPTER LVI

THE WAR BY YEARS

Germany's military strength developed during forty years of preparation,
and the offensive plans of the German High Command developed in
connection with an extraordinary spy service in France, Belgium, Russia,
England and the United States, culminated in a simultaneous campaign on
land and by sea, affecting these five nations.

AUGUST 1, 1914-AUGUST 1, 1915

Belgium and Northern France were overrun by a German invading force
under General von Kluck. The heroic effort of the French army under
General Joffre and a supreme strategic thrust at the German center by
General Foch turned back the German tide at the battle of the Marne. The
scientific diabolism of the German High Command was revealed when poison
gas was projected against the Canadians at Ypres, torturing, blinding
and killing thousands.

German terrorism on the high seas culminated in the sinking of the
Cunard liner Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish coast. Men,
women and children to the number of 1,152 lost their lives. Of these 102
were Americans.

German colonies in South Africa were invaded by British South African
troops under General Louis Botha, who during the Boer War commanded a
division against the British. The German holdings at Tsing-Tau and in
the Marshall Islands were seized by Japan.

German cruisers that had raided sea-going commerce were destroyed. The
most noted of these was the Emden, which was defeated and destroyed by
the Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands.

German sea power was further humiliated in a running fight off Helgoland
in which the battle cruiser Blucher was sunk and in a battle off the
Falkland Islands in which three German cruisers were destroyed.

Italy entered the war on May 23,1915, and invaded Austria on a
sixty-mile front. Russian forces, after early successes, were defeated
at Tannenburg by von Hindenburg, the outstanding military genius on the
German side.

The development of aircraft as an aid to artillery and as a destructive
force on its own account, was rapid, and the use of machine guns and
hand grenades in trench operations became general.

AUGUST 1, 1915-AUGUST 1, 1916

The tragic sea and land operations at the Dardanelles and Gallipoli
marked this year with red in British