XV SEA POWER AND THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND 148 XVI RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, AND ITALY IN 1916 156 AMERICAN FORCES ABROAD DURING 1917 225 XXV THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 1918 XXVII THE GREAT BATTLE OF 1918 Airplanes of a famous fighting squadron in France. The Western Front. American officer wearing protective armor found in a captured German trench A working party of British Tommies going over the top at night. Frontispiece FACING 32 33 48 49 88 89 112 Russian artillery in action against the Germans on the Eastern Front . Campaigning in the Alps The famous Cloth Hall at Ypres, Belgium Heavy British tank in difficulties . A "Fleet" of French Whippet Tanks Ruined French orchards An American trench mortar battery at practice "somewhere in France" 177 177 A 14-inch U. S. Naval Gun, with railway mount Englishmen who helped win the war Supreme figures in the war councils of the European Allies Four famous Allied commanders On the deck of the battleship New York FOREWORD The Battle of the Nations began in the year 1914, that is, one thousand, nine hundred and fourteen years after the birth of Christ, and lasted for over four and a quarter years. It was by far the greatest conflict in history, not alone because of the number of nations and men engaged on the two sides and the losses in life and property sustained, but also, and more particularly, because of the supreme importance to humanity of the questions involved. Before the colossal struggle came to an end, over a score of nations had taken up arms, the fighting had extended from Europe to Asia, Africa, and the islands of the Pacific, and the effects of the conflict had been felt in every quarter of the globe. It was in truth a world war, and at its roots lay the struggle for freedom, for selfgovernment, on the part of the people, which has been going on ever since the dawn of history. The time had come, in the onward progress of events, when great and far-reaching changes in the world's social system were necessary, and hence, in one sense, it may be said that the war was inevitable, even though its immediate causes were the greed and arrogance of a single small group of men. For many generations the details of this epoch-making conflict will be dis |