serious German resistance, and by November 11th had occupied the whole country between the American forces and Mangin's army up to the Meuse. During this last week it was already practically certain that the German surrender was coming. Only weak rearguards were opposing the allied advance. The Germans, however, were retreating in an orderly manner, and fighting desperately, whenever it was necessary to prevent the rolling up of their flanks or the rupture of their center. It was probably the German idea to give the impression that they had saved their army, and would be still capable of resistance in case they could not procure satisfactory terms of peace. The movement of the Belgian-French Armies in the north, which has previously been described, had extended the line from Zeebrugge on the coast, southeast of Bruges, on Courtray, east of Lille, Douai, and Cambrai, and steadily continued in the direction of the River Scheldt, where the enemy were fortified. Here again the Germans made no stubborn resistance. By October 20th the coast of the Dutch frontier had been cleared, the Lys Canal toward Ghent had been crossed, and many bridges had been taken. Town after town which had been in possession of the Germans for four long years was liberated. The British 2d Army co-operated with the French. On October 31st it captured Audenarde, fourteen miles southwest of Ghent, while the Belgian armies were pushing on further north until they were within five miles of Ghent. The last Belgian town to be liberated before the armistice was the city of Ghent. The Germans deserted Ghent on November 11th at two o'clock in the morning, and at seven o'clock the Belgian troops marched in. The streets were filled with citizens shouting, cheering and embracing. Bells rang out from the belfries of all the churches. The city was full of joy. The celebration continued until midnight, and indeed, it may almost be said to have continued until November 13th, when King Albert and the young queen made their triumphal entry, escorted by Belgian, French and British Generals. While the armies of Germany were thus being driven headlong from the countries they had treated with such brutality, important events were transpiring which were leading to the absolute destruction of the military power and were even threatening the political existence of the central nations. Bulgaria had withdrawn from the war and Turkey had surrendered. It was now the turn of Austria. On the evening of October 29th, an Austrian officer, bearing a white flag, approached the Italian lines, coming from the enemy trenches close to Serravalle in the Adige Valley and applied for an armistice. As he was not sufficiently credited he was sent back. The next day a group appeared under the white flag headed by General von Weber, an Austrian corps commander. They were driven in motor cars to General Diaz's headquarters, and negotiations for an armistice were at once begun. As a result of various pourparlers the armistice was signed by General Diaz to go into effect at three o'clock November 4th. Revolution was already agitating the whole of the Dual Empire, and its dissolution had begun. The empire was breaking up into independent states. Rioting had taken place in Budapest. Emperor Charles acquiesced in the inevitable by appointing Professor Lammasch as head of the ministry to restore their former imperial powers to the various national governments. Hungary declared its independence, and a National Council, headed by Count Michael Karolyi, took over the government. On November 11th, Emperor Charles abdicated. The empire of Austria had come to an end. The armistice of November 4th was a complete surrender. It provided for the total demobilization of the AustroHungarian Army, and the immediate withdrawal of all Austro-Hungarian forces operating on the front from the North Sea to Switzerland. It also provided for the evacuation of all territories invaded by Austria-Hungary since the beginning of the war, and gave to the Allies the right of free movement over all road and rail and waterways in AustroHungarian territory. Prisoners of war were to be returned, all hostilities at sea were to be ended, and the AustroHungarian Navy either surrendered or disarmed. Germany's greatest ally had collapsed. T CHAPTER XXXVII GERMANY SURRENDERS HE armistice which ended the war was signed by the night, western time on November 11, 1918. It went into effect at 11 A. M., French time, six o'clock, western time, on the same day. Negotiations for an armistice had begun on October 6th, when Prince Maximilian, of Baden, the then German Imperial Chancellor, sent to President Wilson a letter, reading as follows: The German Government requests the President of the United States to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states with this request, and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations. It accepts the program set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th, and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27th, as a basis for peace negotiations. With a view to avoiding further bloodshed, the German Government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air. On October 8th, President Wilson replied asking whether the Imperial Chancellor was speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the empire, who had so far conducted the war. He stated, moreover, that he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms so long as the armies of the central powers were upon the soil of the Allies. On October 12th, Dr. W. S. Solf, the Imperial Foreign Secretary, replied to President Wilson, declaring the German Government to be representative of the German people, and that it was ready to evacuate all foreign territory and to accept President Wilson's terms. This was regarded in Germany as the ending of the war, and was received with great enthusiasm. An Amsterdam despatch to a London paper declared, "People in Berlin are kissing one another in ( 483 ) the streets though they are perfect strangers, and sending peace congratulations to each other. The only words heard anywhere in Germany are 'Peace at last.'" On October 23d the President announced that he had transmitted this correspondence with the German authorities to the allied governments with the suggestion that the terms of an armistice should be prepared to insure to the associated governments the unrestricted power to safeguard and enforce details of peace. He pointed out that it was not clear that the German Government were veritable representatives of the German people, and declared that if the United States "must deal with the military masters and the monarchical autocrats of Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand, not peace negotiations, but surrender." On October 27th the German Foreign Secretary acknowledged President Wilson's previous note, declared that peace negotiations were being conducted by a government of the people in whose hands rested both actually and constitutionally the authority to make decisions, and stated that it was now ready for proposals for an armistice. On October 31st representatives of the allied governments met at Versailles to consider the terms of an armistice. Among those present were Premier Clemenceau, of France; Premier Orlando, of Italy; Premier Lloyd George, of Great Britain; and Colonel E. M. House, of the United States. Among military advisers present were General Tasker H Bliss, Marshal Foch and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. Meanwhile, the allied armies were smashing the German lines, which were retreating from Belgium and France with enormous losses. On November 5th a note was sent to Germany by Secretary of State Lansing in which he stated that Marshal Foch had been authorized to receive German delegates, and to communicate to them the terms of an armistice. It also stated that the allied governments were willing to make peace according to the terms laid down in President Wilson's addresses, except that they reserved to themselves complete freedom on the subject of Clause 2, relating to the freedom of the seas, about which there was some difference of opinion. The German Government acted at once. On the 7th of November the following communication from the German High Command to Marshal Foch was made public: The German Government, having been informed through the President of the United States that Marshal Foch had received powers to receive accredited representatives of the German Government and communicate CHART SHOWING, IN THOUSANDS, THE BATTLE DEATHS IN THE WORLD WARA TOTAL OF 7,582,000 to them conditions of an armistice, the following plenipotentiaries have been named by it: Mathias Erzberger, General H. K. A. von Winterfeld, Count Alfred von Oberndorff, General von Grunnel, and Naval Captain von Salow. The plenipotentiaries request that they be informed by wireless of the place where they can meet Marshal Foch. They will proceed by automobile, with subordinates of the staff, to the place thus appointed. Later in the day, it was announced that the German plenipotentiaries had left Spa and would reach, by five o'clock |