ports was now realized; and even flanking operations were made secondary to the occupancy of the ports along the sea. To the north, Antwerp was still holding out, and the French goal was to drive the western line so far to the north as to be able to reach Antwerp and to join hands with the besieged Belgian army. The German plan, on the other hand, was to occupy ports as nearly opposite to England as possible especially Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. Both sides rushed troops from all sections of their lines toward the sea, appreciably thinning out the previous positions. This dilution of strength from the Oise to Switzerland was made possible by the policy of resorting to trenches; and from this time the battle-line east of the Oise becomes a vast trench-contest. Castelnau is brought all the way from Nancy on the Alsace-Lorraine frontier to cross the Oise. Foch is also shifted, and the British are sent far to the west around Ypres. A new army is formed from troops from the centre and placed in command of General Maud'huy. But the French had the advantage of having begun the race to the sea and were hence able to move more quickly than the Germans. The battle-line which was beginning to form west of the Oise thus took a shape pointing toward Antwerp rather than toward Dunkirk. By the end of September a gap of less than fifty miles extended between the extreme western edge of the battle-line and the sea. (See Map, page 497.)

For this gap the Germans and Allies made all speed. But German occupancy of the gap would be rendered difficult by the presence of the Belgian army within the fortifications of Antwerp. So that Germany now undertook in earnest to reduce the strongest of all European fortresses at the same time that she feverishly moved other forces toward the gap between Arras and the North Sea.

Joffre's attempt to flank the Germans on their right between the Oise and the sea may be divided into three separate movements. The first, represented by the forces under Castelnau, made the first flanking attempt. The second was made by the new army under Maud'huy; and the third, by a new army under d'Urbal. In addition, d'Urbal's forces were, if possible, to advance to the support of Lille and to prevent that fortress from being taken. But d'Urbal's advance on Lille was checked by the Germans as decisively as were the other

flanking movements. On October 10, the bombardment of Lille began and three days later the fortress was compelled to surrender.

THE FALL OF ANTWERP

Antwerp was considered the strongest fortress in the world, with the exception of fortresses such as Gibraltar, where the fortification is largely the work of nature. Perhaps in the strength of the manmade fortifications Antwerp was not so strong as Paris; but Antwerp had natural advantages of which Paris could not boast. In the first place, Antwerp was located on the Scheldt, which had been formally neutralized. In the second place, on the northwest it lay so close to the Dutch frontier that it could hardly be completely invested by any force which was willing to respect the neutrality of Holland. And, finally, some ten miles to the south of Antwerp a series of deep marshes formed a natural protection along which had been thrown forts of great strength. Before Liège and Namur, Antwerp had been considered well-nigh impregnable.

We have seen that after its defeat by the German forces, most of the Belgian army had withdrawn into Antwerp. Obviously, its first duty was to keep open the line of communication with the French and the British making for Antwerp from the south, and this it was enabled to do. The Germans left but a comparatively small force to surround the city, and for several weeks, while the Battle of the Marne was being fought, made no attempt to reduce Antwerp. Indeed, on August 25 and 26, on September 4 and on September 9, the Belgian forces made sallies which drove back the besiegers. One of these sallies compelled the diversion to the besieging force of some German divisions which had been destined for France; and the last of the sallies proved to be still more dangerous to the German position. The German troops were scattered, Malines and Aerschot were captured, and the railroad between Louvain and Tirlemont was reached and blown up. For a time the Belgians even threatened to re-capture Brussels, as von Emmich's army had been denuded to support the German forces in France; and Germany drove the Belgians back into Antwerp, with heavy losses, only by recalling a number of divisions

to the south which were headed for the Marne and which had already crossed the Belgian border into France. So that the failure to capture Antwerp and to scatter the Belgian army was not of so insignificant an effect upon the entire military situation as the German General Staff evidently had anticipated.

But with the German troops and the Entente forces both racing to reach the North Sea, the reduction of Antwerp without further delay became necessary for Germany. For if Antwerp should remain in the Allies' hands until the Franco-British forces reached it, so that it became the extreme western outpost of the Allied line, Germany would be cut off from all the sea-coast south of Germany. Whereas if Antwerp and the surrounding Belgian sea-coast could be captured, Germany would be located practically on the Straits of Dover and would have submarine bases at the south extremity of the North Sea. On September 28, accordingly, the reduction of Antwerp began in earnest.

British reinforcements hurried up to assist the Antwerp garrison, but although some British marines and infantry arrived before the fall of the fortress, they were not in sufficient force to affect the final result. On September 28, the Germans advanced upon the Scheldt from the south and the southeast. The defences in this quarter consisted of eight large forts, some distance from the city proper, which were in turn supported by an inner ring of forts, nearer the city. The Belgians worked their guns manfully, but could not withstand the German molten rain. By the next day, one of the largest forts was completely put out of commission, and its neighbor, by October 1. On the latter day, the plight of the defenders was rendered doubly serious by the demolition by German fire of the reservoir which supplied the city and the garrison with water. On October 3, 4 and 5, the Germans were driven back in their attempts to cross the Nethe River, which flows to the south of Antwerp and across which the Belgians had already been forced to withdraw. On October 6, however, the Germans managed to cross this stream; and, seeing that further resistance was hopeless, the retirement of the Belgian army began. Fortunately for the Belgian soldiers, the sea-coast from Antwerp extends away from the city to the west, and it was clear of

German soldiers; nevertheless, the failure of the German forces to cut off the Belgian retreat along the southwest seems inexplicable. On October 7, the Belgian Government left the city; most of the civilian inhabitants and refugees had already left, the greater part making for Holland. On October 8, the city itself was bombarded, and it surrendered on the following day. By forced marches and astute rear-guard actions, the retiring Belgian army, with its French and with most of its British reinforcements, managed to elude the German forces which endeavored to cut it off, gained the Franco-British lines to the south, re-formed along a line between Calais and Nieuport, and then definitely took over its share of the entire battle-line of the Allies in Belgium and France.

On October 15, Ostend also surrendered.

The German army followed the retiring Belgians as speedily as possible, until the Germans came into contact with the Franco-British forces, hurrying to protect the Belgian rear. This point of junction hence became the extreme western wing of the entire battle-line in France and Belgium. Accordingly, by the middle of October the Germans and the Allies were face to face from the North Sea to Switzerland as follows:

From Nieuport in Belgium, on the North Sea, past Dixmude, past Ypres, crossing the Franco-Belgian frontier west of Lille; between Arras and Cambrai, through Péronne, crossing the Oise at Noyon; then bending from this vertical line to a horizontal line north of Soissons, through Craonne, north of Rheims, through Montfaucon north of Verdun; then turning sharply to the south to form a deep salient into France, with the apex at St. Mihiel and the eastern base ending at Pont-à-Mousson, on the Moselle near the Alsace-Lorraine frontier; then along that frontier, occasionally crossing it, north of Nancy and Lunèville, west of Altkirch, to the Swiss border.

THE BATTLE OF FLANDERS (BATTLE OF THE YSER AND BATTLE OF YPRES)

Opposed in her advance toward Dunkirk and Lille, Germany now resolved to break through the opposition. Only the fifty-mile west wing of the battle-line from the North Sea to La Bassée had not become a series of trenches and Germany resolved to break through this gap at all cost. She refused to accept as final her defeat at the Marne-she was about to make one more great effort before abandoning the offensive.

The country in southwestern Belgium was admirably suited for defence. It is low and flat, but it is intersected by innumerable ditches, marshes, canals and dykes. Some of it is below the level of the sea, and many parts of it can be flooded by letting in the ocean; and from the end of fall to the beginning of spring it is one homogeneous mass of bog.

To oppose the German thrust, the Allies had stationed from Nieuport to La Bassée all the forces available, comprising troops of many nationalities, mingled according to the press of circumstances. The Allied defence of this fifty-mile stretch of Flanders fields may nevertheless be readily divided into three commands. At the left were the Belgians, from the sea along the Yser River; in the centre, around and in front of Ypres, were the British; and at the right were the French. French and British colonial troops, from India, from Africa, from Australia, and even from Canada-white, black and brown regiments were also all on the very front of the firing-line.

The Germans opened the Battle of Flanders by a sharp attack on the Belgians at Dixmude, about ten miles from the sea. For eight days, the German troops rushed up in assault, supported by heavy German artillery fire; but the Belgian infantry rolled back the German troops, and the Belgian guns answered the German guns shot for shot. Throughout this long struggle along the banks and canal of the