ON THE HIGH SEAS On the water, 1915 was a year of comparative inaction. The Entente maintained its supremacy and the Alliance continued its submarine warfare, so that the chief naval activity was the transportation of troops and supplies. (The Dardanelles attack has been described above and the character of the submarine warfare waged by Germany and Austria-Hungary, in Volume I.) In the Adriatic, the Austrian fleet was still bottled up by the French fleet and, after May, by the Italian fleet as well, and did not attempt to make a sortie, being content to concede Entente command of the Mediterranean as Germany was content to concede Entente command of the Atlantic. In the Baltic Sea, a German naval squadron came into conflict with the Russian fleet, with losses on both sides. In the Black Sea, the Russian fleet was unchallenged, although it could not approach near enough Constantinople for a bombardment of the Turkish capital. In different localities, a number of important and unimportant Allied warships were lost by contact with torpedoes and mines. Several German commerce raiders still made themselves felt. Of these, the Dresden and Königsberg were sunk and the Prince Eitel Friedrich and the Kronprinz Wilhelm escaped safely into Newport News and were interned. The only naval engagement of significance was the Battle of Dogger Bank. THE BATTLE OF DOGGER BANK In the winter of 1914, German battleships had begun the practise of making short and sudden raids upon the English coast, often bombarding unfortified towns and killing non-combatants of both sexes. A similar policy was pursued in air-raids, until the Entente Allies retaliated in kind and before the end of the war seem to have caused more destruction and more deaths by raids from the air upon German and Belgian towns than the Germans had caused by raids upon English towns. On the morning of January 24, 1915, a German squadron of battlecruisers sailed from Helgoland to conduct another raid upon the British coast. The heavy cruisers comprised the Seydlitz, the Derfflinger, the Moltke and the Blücher. They were supported by six light cruisers and by a squadron of destroyers. A fleet of submarines also accompanied the squadron, in case of contact with a section of the British fleet. At seven o'clock in the morning the Germans met a British cruiser squadron of greater numbers and speed and of heavier armament. The British squadron, under the command of Admiral Beatty, comprised the heavy cruisers Lion, Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand, and Indomitable; four intermediate cruisers; three light cruisers; and several squadrons of destroyers. The British opened fire at once, and, realizing the hopelessness of attempting to offer battle, the German commander, Admiral von Hipper, immediately retraced his course and fled for the protection of Helgoland and the German mine fields. When the battle opened, a distance of some fifteen miles separated the two fleets, but within several hours the British had reduced this to twelve and then to ten. Of the German fleet, the Blücher was old and slow, and soon fell behind. Before ten o'clock, heavy shells were dropping upon the Blücher, while the other German vessels were also within striking range of the British heavy cruisers. By eleven o'clock the Blücher had fallen hopelessly behind, and shortly after noon she sank, with the loss of most of her crew. By noon, the greater speed of the British began to bring the two squadrons almost level, but the German destroyers then got between the two lines of heavy cruisers and interposed a smoke screen, behind which the Germans turned to the north and lengthened the distance between them and their attackers. By this time, several of the German heavy cruisers had been struck and were on fire; but the leading British vessel, the Lion, had also been struck in such fashion as to reduce her speed and to cause her to fall behind. This accident to the Lion and the approaching proximity of German mine fields caused the British to call off the pursuit shortly after noon, while still some seventy-five miles from Helgoland. THE CAPTURE OF THE GERMAN AFRICAN POSSESSIONS By the beginning of 1915, the revolt against British rule in South Africa had been quite put down and campaigns against German Southwest Africa, German East Africa and Kamerun were in process. German Southwest Africa-With the outbreak of the war, German forces occupied Walfish Bay, the British harbor on the seacoast of German Southwest Africa; but it was recaptured by the British forces on Christmas, 1914, and in January, 1915, the occupation of German Southwest Africa was seriously begun. The Orange River was crossed by a Boer army, and a steady advance into the German dependency achieved. Throughout the remainder of the winter and throughout the spring the invaders made progress, until in May the entire southern half of the territory, with the capital, Windhoek, was in the hands of the British. In June and July the small German forces resisting the British advance were driven toward the northern border, where they made their last fruitless stand on July 6 at Tsumeb. The entire province officially surrendered on July 9. Kamerun-The advance of the British and French continued in 1915. The coast was blockaded while an invading corps proceeded on foot farther up the Sanaga River. At the same time, a British force advanced from Nigeria. These two columns converged in the summer to capture most of the German strongholds in the province, the greater part of Kamerun thus falling into the possession of the Entente. Nevertheless, scattered bands succeeded in maintaining a guerilla warfare in certain sections through the latter part of 1915 and complete resistance did not end until March, 1916. German East Africa-The capture of German East Africa, however, was more difficult. In January, 1915, a British force from British East Africa advancing along the coast was driven back and several other reverses were inflicted upon the British army. In March, the Entente declared a blockade of the coast of German East of the summer, the British had been reinforced by French and by Boers, and succeeded in driving the German forces inland; but with the end of the year the German troops were still resisting stoutly and German East Africa was still far from surrender. In 1916, the Entente forces made more comprehensive preparations for the subjugation of the last German colony, and an elaborate campaign was prepared. Well-equipped columns began advances from different directions against the various German positions, captured forts, occupied railroads, and surrounded the German forces; until by the end of 1916 the German resistance was no longer threatening. By this time, the invading armies, under the general supervision of General Smuts, were composed of British, French, Belgians, Portuguese, Boers, Australians, Canadians and natives. However, the German forces utilized every possible method of resistance and it was not until the winter of 1917 that all opposition ceased. German East Africa officially surrendered to the Entente Allies late in November, 1917, more than half a year after the entrance of the United States into the War. Thus ended the year 1915. The Entente had achieved numerical superiority on the western front, but had been absolutely unable to gain there. Russia had been driven out of her acquisitions of 1914, had been overwhelmingly defeated, had lost many hundred thousands of men, had withdrawn from all of Russian Poland, and for a time had been rendered helpless. Bulgaria had joined the Alliance. Servia, Montenegro and most of Albania had been occupied. Italy had joined the Entente, but her campaign against Austria had made little headway. The German colonies had been lost, with the exception of German East Africa; but their loss was no serious matter. The attack on the Dardanelles had signally failed. America had been embittered, but was still far from entrance into the war; and the submarine warfare of Germany was greatly hindering the Entente. The blockade of Germany had resulted in a serious shortage of food and other supplies, but the shortage was still serious rather than alarming, and German morale was still excellent. It had been Germany's year. THE WAR, 1916 VERDUN As in 1915 the campaign in the East had been more significant than the campaign in the West, so in 1916 the campaign in the West became more significant than the campaign in the East. In 1915, it had still appeared possible to win a victory and to bring the war to an end by single actions; after the great inconclusive battles of Verdun and The Somme in 1916, it became evident that speedy decision was not to be anticipated and that the struggle would drag wearily along for many more months. In 1915, patriotic fervor still ruled in most of the belligerent countries; in 1916, patriotic fervor had been succeeded by war-weariness and disillusion-accompanied, however, by grim determination to "see it through." In 1915, the resources of peace-times could still be utilized; in 1916, the hoarded resources of the days of plenty were no more, and strict economy and regularization became the order of the day. In 1915, the military arm of the campaign was still the most important; in 1916, the military strength of the combatants was of less value in the prosecution of the war than industrial strength, economic mobilization, laborpower, efficiency of production, skill in distribution, reduction in consumption, food supply, material equipment, unanimity of purpose, political support, and finally national morale. Verdun was the northernmost of the four great French fortresses along the Alsace-Lorraine frontier. Its position was such as to compel France to make it also the strongest. Not only did it cover the ground where the duchy of Luxemburg interposed between France, Belgium and Germany-it also was almost directly opposite Metz. the greatest of the German strongholds. In addition, it was an important railroad centre, controlled the approach to Paris along the valley of the Meuse, and commanded the broad valley of the Woevre. |