By the terms of the armistice, the Austro-Hungarian army and navy were demobilized. All invaded and occupied territory was surrendered. Half of the enemy's artillery and equipment was delivered to the Allies. Austria-Hungary was required to evacuate also all the territory claimed by the South Slavs and by Italy. The Allies were given the right to assume control over strategic points and over the Austro-Hungarian system of transportation and communications. Austria-Hungary was to release all prisoners of war. Much of the Austro-Hungarian navy was turned over to the Allies, but the blockade of Austria-Hungary by the Allies continued in force. THE COLLAPSE OF GERMANY BREAKING THE HINDENBURG LINE After the British north of the Somme salient on September 18 had broken through the lines which the Germans had hoped to hold without further retreat, Foch prepared to deliver the coup de grâce. The Allied superiority in man-power was overwhelming, and the Allied commander-in-chief was determined to use it to good effect. For more than a week the Allies made no further advance of note, but prepared diligently to smite the weakening Germans hip and thigh. And on September 26, they drove forward from Verdun to the sea. The attack was opened by the American First Army, which had been shifted from the base of the old St. Mihiel salient to the west side of the Meuse. Pershing struck on a front of no less than twenty miles, from the Meuse through the Argonne Forest to the Aisne. Once more the Germans were no match for the Americans. Outnumbered and disheartened, they resisted as best they were able, but before the end of the day had been forced back four and one-half miles before the vigor of the American attack. Three miles were added on the next day, by which time the Americans had also some 5,000 prisoners and the important towns of Varennes and Montfauçon to show for their efforts. In the meantime, the French on the west of the Americans had also broken through, under the leadership of Gouraud, whose command had been shifted to the west with the American First Army. The French also advanced on the following day, until they had reached a penetration equaling that of the Americans and had occupied points of the railroad between Challerange and St. Masnes, one of the allimportant German systems of lateral communication. On September 28, both the French and the Americans continued to advance, the former capturing Somme-Py and St. Marie à Pie, while the latter occupied Brieulles and Apremont. On September 27, while the Franco-Americans were breaking through on the eastern end of the battle-front, the British began to break through on the western end. All along the British lines, Haig's men progressed closer to Cambrai. They crossed the Canal du Nord, which was some eight miles west of Cambrai and behind which the defenders of the town had taken strong positions. Both northwest and southwest of and opposite Cambrai, the British drove through the German resistance for gains of from three to four miles. On the next day, the British reached Marcoing, only four miles southwest of Cambrai on the Scheldt Canal, on which the town is located. At the same time, La Folie Wood, only three miles due west of Cambrai, was taken, while to the north of the town British troops captured Arteux and Palleul and reached the Sensée River. On the twenty-ninth, Haig struck on a front to the south, just above St. Quentin, and captured Bellenglise. At the same time, an American' division crossed the Scheldt Canal to the north of this front and captured the tunnel of the canal at Bellicourt and advanced through Nauroy. And in the region of Cambrai the British worked their way some three miles due south of the town, while its outskirts were being stormed on the west. To the north of Cambrai, along the Sensée River, however, the Germans put up a plucky resistance and by counter-attacks drove the British out of positions which they had occupied on the preceding day. On September 30, the British lines. drew closer and closer to Cambrai. During this time, the French in the centre also had been getting ahead and had been driving at St. Quentin from both the north and the south, and on October I this important German point was in French hands. IN BELGIUM The Champagne offensive of the French and Americans at the west of the battle-front between Verdun and the sea was serious for the Germans, and Ludendorff hastened to rush up reinforcements to prevent Pershing and Gouraud from continuing their advance northward along the valley of the Meuse. The Franco-American on slaught in Champagne therefore died down for some days. But by reinforcing his left wing, Ludendorff had been compelled to weaken his right; and while the British on the west centre were closing in on Cambrai and the French on the east centre were consolidating their occupation of St. Quentin, the British and the Belgians struck at the weakened German right. The Belgians under King Albert attacked north of the Ypres salient and the British Second Army under General Plumer south of it. On September 28, the Belgians broke through the German lines on a wide front to a depth of four miles. On the next day the famous Passchendaele Ridge was captured, and the Belgians continued to drive ahead until Dixmude also was in their hands. At the same time, the Belgians were aided by a bombardment of the German lines near the coast by an Allied fleet. By September 30, Roulers, after being taken and re-taken, remained safe in Belgian possession. It was the first great Belgian achievement since the Belgian army had been driven from Antwerp in 1914, and it paved the way for greater things. Meantime, the British Second Army had steadily advanced on a 10mile front to the east of the Belgians and by the end of September had reached a line stretching through Ploegsteert and Dadizelle. IN CHAMPAGNE AGAIN The reinforcements dispatched by Ludendorff to bolster up his lines in Champagne had been numerous and the French and Americans east of the Oise were held until the first days of October. On October 4. Gouraud, finding it impossible to break through on his present battle-front, shifts his blow westward along the Suippe River, capturing Vaudesincourt and Dontrien. On the same day, Foch adds to Ludendorff's anxieties by throwing in the French Fifth Army under Berthelot north of Rheims. With Gouraud pushing west along the Suippe and Berthelot pushing east along the Aisne, the Germans in this sector are flanked on both wings and are compelled to withdraw, thus creating a sharp salient into their lines, one which opens up an avenue of approach deep into the German positions. Meanwhile, the Americans to the east of Gouraud have been patiently preparing to beat down the German resistance and on October 8 they are once more able to break through the opposing lines, capturing Brabant and Haumont. The battle-line in France and Belgium on July 18 and on October 18 By October 11 the Germans have completed arrangements for abandoning their lines between the armies of Gouraud and Berthelot, and their retreat in that region becomes more rapid. On October 12, Gouraud enters Vouziers and Berthelot reaches the Retourne River. On the same day, pressure to the west of this sector compels the Ger |