CONTENTS-Continued THE NEW "OLD GUARD" OF FRANCE Reviving the Tradition of Marshal of France THE TEUTONIC attempt to solve the polish QUESTION EMPEROR CHARLES WITH HIS SOLDIERS GERMANY'S EFFORT TO AVERT THE WAR: Full Text of Chancellor's Speech A Reply to Bethmann Hollweg's Speech WARTIME METHODS IN GERMANY Reichstag Address by Herr Dittmann ENSLAVEMENT OF THE BELGIANS: New Documents in the Case Cardinal Mercier's Appeal and Baron von Bissing's Reply PAGE By John Joseph Casey 855 859 861 By Karl F. Nowak 864 867 By F. H. Howard 871 873 881 882 886 887 PROGRESS OF THE WAR Chronology to January 11 THE EUROPEAN WAR AS SEEN BY CARTOONISTS: 26 Cartoons, All Nations J. H. RYCKMAN CURRENT HISTORY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES FEBRUARY, 1917 [FEBRUARY EDITION 56,000 COPIES] WORLD EVENTS OF THE MONTH PEACE DISCUSSIONS PEACE EACE was the outstanding topic of the month just past. Germany's peace proposal and President Wilson's formal request that the belligerents state their peace terms overshadowed every other theme. All the official interchanges and documents on both phases of the subject appear textually in this issue. The action of President Wilson at first justified a hope that the preliminaries of a peace conference were in sight, but the definite reply of the Allies discouraged this expectation, and hope was finally shattered both by the effect the reply produced in Germany and by the British Foreign Minister's amplification of the reply, which served to arouse the entire German population through a specific reference to the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to France as a condition of peace. The news from Washington at the hour of going to press indicated that President Wilson had abandoned for the present any further exchange of notes with the belligerents on the subject of peace. Moreover, the rather pointed references in the Balfour note to a league to force peace" rather than a league to "insure peace," such as President Wilson had in mind, is regarded in high circles as a plain intimation that Great Britain does not regard as practical a league that will seek to insure future peace by moral suasion. MI ** * en THE MILITARY SITUATION ILITARY operations were practically at a standstill during the month, except in Northern Dobrudja, the Riga sector, and the Sinai Peninsula. The Germans, with their Turkish, AustroHungarian, and Bulgarian allies, pushed back the Russian and Rumanian forces from Central and part of Eastern Rumania; they came into complete control of the Dobrudja, with advances threatening Moldavia and even Bessarabia. In the Riga sector the Russians took the offensive and gained some advantage, advancing nearly a mile. The British defeated the Turks in Northern Egypt, removing the danger threatening the Suez Canal; they pushed their forces eastward toward Palestine, taking Raffa, within seventy miles of Jerusalem. British troops also showed activity in Mesopotamia, and again threatened Kut. The Saloniki army was quiet. There was little activity along the Italian fronts, and no important action in France, after the retaking of Hardaumont in the Verdun sector. German submarines were busy during the month, torpedoing many large merchant vessels and at least one battleship, the Cornwallis, with several transports and minor naval craft. The operations of a German sea raider, reported to have sunk a score of allied merchant vessels in the South Atlantic, were among the months' surprises. The number of allied vessels destroyed in November was 191, according to an official German report. Briand, General Lyautey, War Minister; Russia by General Palitzin. The conference was held on Jan. 6 and 7. No official statements were made of what occurred, except that the conference was entirely satisfactory and would result in a closer harmony than ever before in the plans of the Entente. It is reported that as a result Italy was won over to the the dominance of Magyar influences at the Austrian Court; it is stated that while the old Emperor had grown restive under this state of affairs, the new Emperor takes a sympathetic view and practically dismissed von Koerber. Balkan plans of her allies, for a new and SE drastic ultimatum was served on Greece about this time; it is believed also that an agreement was reached with reference to the Macedonian campaign as well as a general understanding looking to closer unity of operations. All the Governments which participated let it be known that the conference was entirely harmonious and its results eminently satisfactory. * IMPORTANT CABINET CHANGES ANOTHER spectacular change OC curred in the Russian Cabinet. On Jan. 9 the Premier, Alexander Trepoff, and Count Ignatieff, Minister of Public Instruction, resigned unexpectedly, and it is reported that they did so unwillingly at the demand of the Czar. Prince Golitzine, a Senator and member of the Council of the Empire, was appointed Premier and Senator Kulchitsky Minister of Public Instruction. The new Premier was born in Wiesbaden, Prussia, in 1860. This is the third change in the Premiership in a year; in fourteen months there were eight changes in the Ministry of the Interior. It is the general conviction that the fall of Trepoff means a blow at liberalism and the appointment of Golitzine a triumph for the reactionaries, though Protopopoff, who is regarded as the real power, is accredited with liberal tendencies and a favorable attitude toward a new commercial treaty with the United States. The downfall of Herr von Koerber, the Austrian Premier, was unexpected, as he had held office only a few weeks following the assassination of Count Stuergkh. His retirement is said to be due to the influence of the Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza, who had found in von Koerber an opponent to the control of Austrian affairs by Germany, and to * * * DANISH ISLANDS TRANSFERRED ECRETARY LANSING and Constantin Brun, the Danish Minister, formally exchanged ratifications on Jan. 17, 1917, of the treaty conveying the Danish West Indies to the United States, thus marking the beginning of American sovereignty over the islands. Actual physical possession will take place as soon as the purchase price, $25,000,000, is paid to Denmark, which will be promptly done. It is likely that a Civil Governor, a naval officer and a Customs Collector will be designated, and that the present local administration will not be disturbed. * * * DECLINE IN BRITISH SECURITIES THE LONDON BANKERS' MAGA ZINE computes the total depreciation in value of 387 representative British securities between July 20, 1914, and Jan. 1, 1916, to be $4,610,000,000; during 1916 the shrinkage was $745,000,000, in 1915 $1,035,000,000. In the ten days immediately preceding the declaration of war these securities decreased in value $950,000,000. The securities range from British and Indian Government bonds to mining shares, comprising all the representative classes of investment. British railway stocks show a decline of $285,035,000. British and Indian Government securities lost value to the extent of $256,930,000. ON N Jan. 18, 1917, the following were the quotations of foreign exchange, together with the standard values at normal times: 4 marks, 67% cents, normally, 95 1-5; sterling, 4.75 13-16, normally, 4.86%; francs, 5.84%, normally 5.18% to the dollar; lire, 7.00, normally, 5.18; Austrian kronen, 10.90, normally, 20.3 cents; rubles, 28.95, normally, 51.2 cents; Holland guilders, 40 13-16, normally, 40.2 cents; Swiss, 5.02, normally, 5.18% cents. A THE GERMAN SEA RAIDER pedoed or captured in the South Atlantic during the two weeks preceding by a German raider. On the 17th the following vessels were reported as having fallen victims to the craft, whose identity up to the hour of going to press was unknown: tragic episode of the war developed when the Japanese steamer Hudson Maru reached Pernambuco, Brazil, Jan. 15 with 237 men from crews of various British and French vessels that had been torTonnage. Point of Departure. 11,483....Rio Janeiro, Dec. 17, for Liverpool. 10,077.. Philadelphia, Dec. 3, for Liverpool. 8,618.... Liverpool, Nov. 28, for New York. 8,075.... Antofagasta, Oct. 28, for Liverpool. 7,556.... Montreal, Dec. 3, for London. Vessel. Drina, (Br.).... Mount Temple, (Br.). Miniah, (Br.).. St. Sael. 6,007....Last reported from Bordeaux, Nov. 8. .... Gailey Michnethiel Not in Lloyd's Register. Not in Lloyd's Register. Not in Lloyd's Register. Not in Lloyd's Register. Nesser Newport Land. San Giorgio.... On Jan. 18 two other vessels were added to the list of supposed victims. The Araguaya, (British,) 10,537 tons, and the Admiral Latouche Treville, (French,) 5,573 tons. The value of the vessels and cargoes of the missing ships is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $20,000,000. SIR IR DOUGLAS HAIG, Commander in Chief of the British Forces, on Dec. 30 rendered his official report of the offensive on the Somme, covering the period from July 19 until the Winter stopped further activities. This report will be printed in our March number. The Commander in Chief says in his more general conclusions: The three main objects with which we had commenced our offensive in July had already (by Nov. 18) been achieved, in spite of the fact that the heavy Autumn rains had prevented full advantage being taken of the favorable situation created by our advance, at a time when we had good grounds for hoping to achieve yet more important suc Not in Lloyd's Register. . Several vessels of name in register. Any one of these three results is in itself The sufficient to justify the Somme battle. attainment of all three of them affords ample compensation for the splendid efforts of our troops and for the sacrifices made by ourselves and our allies. They have brought us a long step forward toward the final victory of the allied cause. Sir Douglas Haig reports the capture of 38,000 prisoners, including more than 800 officers. His message, which is full of the assurance of victory, concludes thus: The enemy's power has not yet been broken, nor is it yet possible to form an estimate of the time the war may last before the objects for which the Allies are fighting have been attained. But the Somme battle has placed beyond doubt the ability of the Allies to gain those objects. The German Army is the mainstay of the Central Powers, and a full half of that army, despite all the advantages of the defensive, supported by the strongest fortifications, suffered defeat on the Somme this year. Neither victors nor vanquished will forget this; and, though bad weather has given the enemy a respite, there will undoubtedly be many thousands in his ranks who will begin the new campaign with little confidence in their ability to resist our assaults or to overcome our defense. Our new armies entered the battle with the determination to win and with confidence in their power to do so. They have proved to themselves, to the enemy, and to the world that this confidence was justified, and in the fierce struggle they have been through they have learned many valuable lessons which will help them in the future. * * * DIMITRIEFF ON THE RIGA FRONT THE HE recent Russian offensive on the Riga-Dvinsk line, with the German base at Mitau as its main objective, has brought once again into the limelight one of the most interesting figures of the war, the Bulgarian General, Radko Dimitrieff, who, it appears, is in command of the Riga-Dvinsk offensive. As long ago as 1886, Radko Dimitrieff made a name for himself by helping to force the abdication of Prince Alexander, by the drastic expedient of kidnapping him in his own yacht, which had been presented to him by the Russian Emperor. In the war of 1912, against Turkey, General Radko Dimitrieff showed himself by far the ablest field commander in the Balkans, winning the great victories of Lule Burgas and Kirk Kilisseh, which practically broke the Turkish power. Unable to support the policies of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Radko Dimitrieff then went to Russia and, when the world war broke out, offered his sword to the Russian Emperor. He was given command of an army corps in General Brusiloff's first army, which invaded Galicia early in September, 1914, and is said at that time to have created the epigram, "Don't count the enemy; hit him!" in reply to a hesitating subordinate. For a considerable time his name did not appear in the dispatches. It has come to light now in the new Riga-Dvinsk offensive. * * ** ITALY'S EASTERN EMPIRE ITALY'S probable intervention in Mace donia may remind us that in recent years the peninsula kingdom has ac quired large holdings in the Near East; holdings amounting to many times her own area. Italy has an area of 110,000 square miles, with a population of 36,000,000; in other words, with about half the area of France, she has a population nearly equal to that of France. She holds the following dependencies: Eritrea, on the Red Sea, and taking its name from the old Greek name of that sea, is about equal in area to the former Kingdom of Naples, and has a coast line of some 700 miles. Italian Somaliland is a third larger than Italy, though sparsely peopled. Both these colonies are run at a loss, receiving large subventions from home. The third Italian possession is Lybia, (Tripoli and Cyrenaica,) taken from Turkey by the Italians just before the two Balkan wars, after it had been in Turkish hands for about two centuries. It is between three and four times as large as Italy, and is also subsidized by the home Government. Much of it is fertile, growing both cereals and fruit, but it has also a very important strength of position, linking the Britishcontrolled region of Egypt with the French Tunis, Algeria, and now Morocco; so that the whole coastline of Northern Africa is now in the hands of these three Entente Powers. The possession of Lybia makes Italy an Eastern-Mediterranean power, and brings her directly south of Crete and the Grecian Isles. IMP GENERAL BRUSILOFF'S FORECAST MPORTANT light on the situation in Russia is shed by a declaration of General Brusiloff to an English war correspondent in the Carpathian region, on the eve of the new year. General Brusiloff said that Russia would not be able to develop all her forces before the Spring of 1917, but that Russia would then possess the greatest and completest army in her history. Up to the present, aind throughout 1916, Russia had had to fight with a notable inferiority in war material and heavy guns, but in 1917 she would find herself mistress of material equal to that of her adversaries, while at the same time disposing of an extraordinary superiority of men; and that this advantage would continue to grow in her |