ompiled from the latest
sources before the opening of the war, but it is to be remembered
that some of the figures are approximate. For example the French
possessions in Africa, of enormous extent, have not been surveyed,
and there are vast stretches of Arctic Siberia and Arctic Canada
which are but half explored. The small territories of Belgium and
Serbia may be added to the total of the three great allied empires,
and thus practically one-half of the earth on this globe was opposed
to the million and a half square miles of the Central Powers.

Owing to Bulgaria's position in the Balkan Peninsula, and also owing
to aggrievement following the results of former Balkan wars,
Bulgaria joined the Central Powers later in the war. Turkey, also,
fearing the loss of Constantinople to the Russians as a result of
the coalition of the Allies, threw her forces on the side of
Germany. The area of Bulgaria was only 43,000 square miles, but the
Ottoman or Turkish Empire was territorially very large, containing
1,420,448 square miles, or almost as much as Germany, Austria, and
Bulgaria combined. In round numbers, and for easy remembrance, it
may be said that the territory of the Central Powers engaged in the
war was about three million square miles.

For a long time Italy maintained neutrality, but the onrush of
conditions forced her into the war, also on the side of the Allies.
The territory of European Italy was 110,623 square miles, and
inclusive of her African possessions the territory under the Italian
flag was 706,623 square miles.

The territory of the Japanese Empire, also, needs to be taken into
consideration, for the reason that Japan, while not entering the
European theater of war, declared herself on the side of the Allies
by the capture of Kiao-chau, a district leased from China by
Germany, and the very next month declared to be a German
protectorate. The territorial extent of the Japanese Empire was
254,266 square miles, inclusive of Korea. These are the principal
factors to be taken into consideration in the mere question of the
territorial extent of the opposing forces.

The geographical position of the belligerent countries, with their
corresponding advantages and disadvantages, is the next factor to be
considered. The geographical position of the Central Powers is best
expressed by the fact that they are central. They have all the
advantages of being in a united whole. When, later in the war,
Serbia was conquer