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Preface

The spectacle of all but one of the really great powers of Europe at war eclipses all the other war spectacles in the history of the world in the number of troops, the magnitude of armament and the theater of operations.

Millions of men met upon battlefields where tens of thousands had met before. Siege guns of a size unheard of before were used to reduce fortifications, and perfected machine guns mowed down battalions, while submarine and aeroplanes and monster Zeppelins played for the first time their deadly parts in the carnage of battles.

In order to understand and appreciate the importance of events of the great European war of 1914 it is desirable, and more or less necessary, to know the previous war history of Europe, the relations of the contending powers, their peoples and their history.

In this volume, Europe at War, will be found a history of the events leading up to the outbreak of hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Servia, which plunged a continent into the most gigantic armed conflict ever known or conceived.

In this great work will be found the thrilling story of the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir

a b Preface

to the Austrian throne and his morganatic wife, which was the overt act that precipitated the war.

The form and manner in which war was declared by the several powers, giving their reasons therefor, including the speeches of the German Kaiser; the British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey; the manifesto of the aged Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph, together with the ultimatums and declarations of war are also set forth.

The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente are described and explained, thus explaining the alignment of the forces engaged in the gigantic conflict.

Europe at War contains the history of all the decisive battles of the world from Marathon to the battle that ended the Russo-Japanese war. In these thrilling descriptions of the world's greatest battles preceding the great European war of 1914 may be found facts and figures for comparison with the greatest of all wars in the history of the world.

The Seven Years' war waged by the great ancestor of the Kaiser, Frederick the Great, in which all Europe was arrayed against him, is given a special chapter.

Another chapter is devoted to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, which left France and Germany mortal enemies, and which resulted in the enormous armaments and war preparations of those nations, which were under way for more than forty years. This work also contains a description of the fair provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, which Germany exacted from France as a war prize, and which were the scenes of hard fighting in the great war of 1914.

One of the underlying causes of the world's greatest war was the growth of Pan- Slavism and Pan-Germanism, the sentiments which united the Slav races into one faction and

Preface c

the Germanic races into another, with resulting rivalries and antagonisms, all of which are fully explained herein.

Thrilling Personal Experiences in the War constitute a chapter to stir red blood, reciting daring deeds of individuals in battles of earth, sea and air.

Under the title Best Stories of the War are given a series of incidents replete with tragedy, adventure, humor, pathos and human interest.

All the rulers of the nations at war in 1914 were related by blood or marriage except the King of Servia. Just what these relationships were, giving the various marriages between European royalty are accurately told herein.

The biographies and personal histories of the leading commanders and rulers make another attractive feature. Among them will be found faithful pen portraits of the German Kaiser, Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, the young King of the Belgians and others.

This great work also contains descriptions of the modern methods of warfare, submarines, aeroplanes, the deadly mines sown on land and sea and how they are operated.

The characteristics and habits of the various peoples and interesting and valuable facts concerning the nations at war are given.

The army and navy strength of the Great Powers are accurately set forth.

In fact, everything of historical and educational value necessary to an understanding of the world's greatest war has been made a feature of this great work.

Preface

THE REAL SUFFERERS IN A AVAR ARE THE ONES LEFT AT HOME

Contents

CHAPTEE I THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR OF 1914

PAGE

The Beginning of the Greatest War in the History of the World, Involving Five of -the Greatest Nations of Europe, Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary and Russia and the Smaller Nations of Belgium, Servia and Montenegro, Followed the Shots of an Assassin WJio Killed the Heir to the Throne of Austria-Hungary. A Summary of the Events That Preceded the Greatest of all International Conflicts . . . .43

Chapter I

The Beginning of the Greatest War in the History of the World, Involving Five of the Greatest Nations of Europe, Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary and Russia and the Smaller Nations of Belgium, Servia and Montenegro, Followed the Shots of an Assassin Who Killed the Heir to the Throne of Austria- Hungary. A Summary of the Events that Preceded the Greatest of all International Conflicts.

THE shots fired by a Herzogovinan student in the city of Serajeve, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914, which killed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the crown of Austria- Hungary, and his wife the Duchess of Hohenberg, were echoed by the roaring guns of five of the most powerful nations of Europe.

The "shot heard 'round the world" in the American revolution was fired by a patriot; the shot heard 'round the world in the Great European war of 1914 was fired by an assassin.

Actually, the greatest war the world had ever known, which at the beginning involved Austria-Hungary, Servia, Russia, Germany, France and England, and later Japan in the order named began on July 27, 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded Servia, although Austria-Hungary did not declare war upon the little Servian state until the following day.

The act of the Herzogivanan assassin and his bombthrowing confederate was not the cause of the war; it was the preliminary overt act which, so to speak, touched the match to the European powder barrel.

The causes had been multiplying for years and are to be found in the racial hatreds, the commercial rivalries, the subjugation of the weak by the strong, the theft of territory, the pride and arrogance of autocracy and the bitter memories of other wars.

THE BALANCE OF POWER IN EUROPE

The peace of Europe for a half century has depended upon the proper maintenance of the balance of power, so that no one nation or combination of nations should become so powerful that it or they could dominate the others. To maintain this balance of power among peoples naturally antagonistic the nations of Europe have for years been building up the most powerful armies and navies the world has ever known until the burden of war taxes has well nigh broken the backs of the people and has been one reason for the large emigration to America of thousands who found the burden greater than they could bear.

But while these monster preparations for war have been going on the statesmen of the several countries have sought to prevent or at least to delay armed conflict by alliances, understandings, treaties and all the arts of diplomacy.

The Great European War of 19U

So enormous and powerful were the great war machines which grew in size and cost every year that they became in themselves a sort of guarantee of peace. It seemed incredible that nations so armed should risk annihilation by such powerful engines of destruction. The mere thought of a European war to the average person became a grotesque absurdity The alliances to preserve the balance of power seemed too well adjusted, the means of warfare too

destructive. r ,

To aid in the preservation of the balance of power little states lying between the possessions of the great powers were permitted to retain their independence of the great powers which guaranteed their neutrality, thus relieving tension and friction along the boundaries of the great states. All the safeguards of peace seemed to have been taken. _

Yet when the first blast of war sounded treaties and alliances were in some cases disregarded and the neutrality- of the so-called little "buffer" states was violated.

CAUSE OF THE ASSASSINATION

In considering the causes of the Great European war of 1914, the greatest in the history of the world, and the direct acts leading up to hostilities it is necessary to recall that in 1909 Austria seized from Turkey the territory of Bosnia and Herzogovina, inhabited by Serbs, whose dream had been to unite with Servia in a Servian empire and who resented the rule of Austria. It was this resentment together with pride of race that led the young Serb, Prinzip, to assassinate the heir to the Austrian throne.

Despite this crime against his family and throne it was not believed that the aged Emperor of Austria- Hungary, Francis Joseph, then in his eighty-fourth year, would retaliate upon the Servian nation, although it was made clear that the plot of the assassin and his accomplice was hatched in Servia. The history of the world, however, shows that some of its greatest wars have directly resulted from individual acts far less important and malicious than this.

On July 23, following the assassination of his nephew and heir, the government of the venerable Emperor Franz Joseph issued an ultimatum to the Servian government demanding guarantee of reforms calculated to protect Austria-Hungary from alleged Servian plotting and to preclude a like tragedy.

The Servian reply granted all points of the ultimatum except one and that was not rejected but left open for further negotiations.

Austria-Hungary's reply was that the Servian reply was unsatisfactory. On the same day shots were exchanged between the two nations across the Danube River near Bel-< grade, the Servian capital.

KUSSIA BEGINS MOBILIZATION

Servia's one dependence was upon Russia, which like Austria had an enormous Serb population. Almost coincident with the exchange of notes between the two governments Russia began to mobilize her enormous army, alleging her action to be but a precautionary measure.

Germany, which with Austria and Italy composed the Triple Alliance, supported Austria-Hungary and demanded of Russia that she cease mobilizing her army.

Prior to this, however, Great Britain, through her foreign minister, Sir Edward Grey, proposed an international peace conference, France and Italy agreeing, but Germany holding off.

Russia having continued her mobilization beyond the twenty-four hours named in Germany's ultimatum-, Germany on August 1st declared war on Russia, and on the same day France and Germany began mobilizing their forces.

Russia and France and Great Britain constituted what is known as the Triple Entente, that is to say, these three nations had a verbal understanding, a sort of "gentlemen's agreement" as to what they would do in the event their interests or safety were menaced, whereas in the # Triple Alliance the terms were signed and sealed and had the force and effect of a written contract.

Although Germany's declaration of war was against Russia the mobilization of three of her armies was directed against Russia's long time ally, France, and on the following day the forward movement upon her ancient foe of the Franco-Prussian War began, breaking a peace which had existed for nearly forty-three years between them. On the same day Russia invaded Germany.

Between Germany and France lay the neutral little kingdom of Belgium, the neutrality of which had been guaranteed by the Treaty of London in 1867, to which Germany and Great Britain were both signatories.

By marching her armies straight across Belgium it would have been possible for Germany to reach the French frontier before the French army could arrive there to defend.

48 The Great European War of 19 H

GERMANY INVADED BELGIUM

Basing her action upon military necessity Germany invaded Belgium — a violation of the neutrality treaty. It is only fair and impartial to state, however, that Germany did not expect Belgium to offer any opposition to this movement and offered to reimburse Belgium for any damage she might sustain. The German chancellor freely and publicly acknowledged that the invasion of the German troops was a violation of Belgium's neutrality, but declared that the menace was so great that she was justified.

Belgium not only rejected Germany's offer, but appealed to Great Britain and at the same time prepared to resist the invasion with force.

Great Britain's response was a declaration to defend both France and Belgium and on August 4th a declaration of war was issued against Germany by Great Britain and began the mobilization of her army for the purpose of sending an expeditionary force to join the French and Belgians. Germany on the same day declared war against Great Britain.

Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, was called upon by Germany and Austria-Hungary to join forces with them, but instead of doing so declared that she would remain neutral, alleging that the terms of the alliance only required her to aid her allies in a war of defense, whereas in this war she considered them the aggressors.

GREATEST WAR OPENS

Under these conditions the greatest war in the history of the world was in full blast by August 5th, upon which date the first of the three enormous armies which Germany sent against France crossed the Belgian frontier in force and began an attack upon the forts at Liege where the Belgians made a desperate and brilliant defense.

In the meantime Austrian warships were battering the deserted Servian capital of Belgrade and Austrian troops, facing the hail of Servian shells and bullets, were forcing a passage of the Drina and Save rivers.

The Russian army, like a huge bear, was moving slowly but steadily upon the frontiers of its enemies.

The activities of the powerful navies of Great Britain, Germany and France were screened in mystery.

With the most powerful nations at war even the neutral nations summoned their fighting men to the colors to defend, if need be, their frontiers.

Em*ope trembled beneath the feet of twenty millions of men under arms.

The war which had figured only in the imagination of writers, the war which the world had dreaded, the inconceivable war which enveloped a continent and was to remake the map of Europe and be felt to the uttermost ends of the earth was a reality.

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Chapter II The Assassination That Started The

WAR

Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Heir to Austrian Throne, and His Wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, Slain in Bosnia — First Attempt on Their Lives with a Bomb — History of Their Courtship and Marriage — Assassins Involve High Servian Officials.

ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, journeyed to Bosnia on a martial errand but on a peaceful mission. Created head of the army, he went there to represent Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, at the grand manoeuvres. It was his first official visit to Bosnia and he paid for it with his life. Foiled in their first attempt to slay him and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, the band of Servian assassins were successful in the second effort. Where a bomb failed to put an end to the heir to the Austrian throne a bullet was successful.

On the morning of June 28 the archduke and his wife decided to attend a reception at the town hall in Sarajevo. Many fetes had been arranged in their honor and to show that the Austrians had a kindly feeling toward the people of the annexed provinces, the archduke and duchess planned to mingle freely with the Bosnians at entertainments.

As Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the duchess were driving to the town hall a bomb was thrown at their motor car. Only the great presence of mind of the archduke saved their lives then. The deadly missile was thrown as the automobile was going ahead at a snail's pace and the archduke warded it off with his arm. The dynamite did not explode until after the archduke's car had passed. Then there was a crash and the occupants of the following car were injured. They were Count von Boos-Waldeck and Colonel Merizzi, the archduke's aide-de-camp. Neither was seriously hurt. Six persons in the crowd that lined the street were also injured.

THE DOUBLE ASSASSINATION

It was when the archduke was going to the hospital to see how his aide-de-camp was recovering from the effects of the explosion that he lost his life. The assassin, a student of eighteen, named Gavrio Prinzip, stationed himself in the front rank of a cheering crowd, at a point on the route from the town hall to the palace, and, as the royal automobile slowed down at a turning, he opened fire with an automatic pistol, hitting the archduke in the face as he sought to protect his consort.

As he fell back in the seat the murderer turned his weapon on the duchess, who sank across her husband's knees with bullets through her throat and abdomen.

Thus, for the second time, the aged Emperor Francis Joseph, then in his eighty-fifth year, was robbed in tragic fashion of an heir, and the House of Hapsburg sustained one more crushing blow in its unhappy history.

The two attempts evidently were carefully planned. The archduke and his consort arrived at Sarajevo in the morning from Ilidza, a little seaside resort where they had spent a brief holiday. The first attempt against the life of the archduke was made as he was about to leave the girls' high school, where he made a brief inspection. The archduke remained calm throughout this trying ordeal. He stopped his car to inquire as to the injuries of Count von Boos-Waldeck and Colonel Merizzo. After giving orders that the injured be properly attended, he drove on to the town hall, where the mayor proceeded to read his address of welcome.

The archduke, however, interrupted the proceedings to exclaim :

"What is the good of your speeches? I come to Sarajevo on a visit and I get bombs thrown at me. It is outrageous!" Then, after a pause, he said: "Now you may speak."

The reception ceremony was overshadowed by the bomb explosion, and his royal highness was still indignant when the time came to leave. The duchess endeavored to restrain her husband from getting into the automobile again, but the governor of Bosnia, General Potiorek, said:

"It's all over now. We have not got more than one murderer in Sarajevo!"

A SECOND BOMB THROWN

At this the archduke decided to enter the car again. As the machine proceeded along the Appel Quay another bomb was thrown. It failed to explode, whereupon the assassin drew an automatic pistol and fired a fusillade. The first bullet hit the archduke in the neck, the second in the leg and the third struck the duchess in the abdomen.

Governor Potiorek, who was seated in the royal car, was covered with blood as the archduke and the duchess sank on the floor. He had them conveyed to his official residence, but they were past aid, and after receiving the last sacrament the duchess expired, the archduke breathing his last a few minutes later.

Spectators asserted that the archduke saw the glint of the automatic pistol as the assassin approached, and endeavored to shield the duchess. The fury of the crowds of peasantry, all decked out in gala costume to welcome their prince, knew no bounds. They tried to tear the assassin to pieces, and he was rescued with difficulty by the police, with his clothes almost torn from his back.

The assassin was a native of Herzegovina, and his fellow conspirator who threw the bomb was a compositor named Nedeljo Gabrinovics, twenty-one, who also came from Herzegovina. When interrogated by the police they seemed proud of their exploits. Both had spent some time in Belgrade, where Gabrinovics asserted he had obtained the bomb from an anarchist, whose name he did not know. He said he had been employed in the government printing works. He made no concealment of his sympathy with the King of Servia.

Spectators of the death scene state that the Duchess of Holienberg did not know she was seriously wounded, and, while dying of internal hemorrhage, supported her husband and sought to comfort him, while streams of blood flowed from his wound.

The day, which began with bands playing, the streets decked in bunting and the inhabitants in festive mood, ended in somber tragedy. The gay flags were soon torn down, and in their place were hung crape and festoons of black cloth. The bright costumes of the peasantry were exchanged for robes of mourning, and a silence of stunned consternation hung over the city, except where infuriated bands of students threatened the residences of Servians.

STORY OF A ROYAL ROMANCE

Meanwhile the bodies of the heir to the Austrian throne and his wife were lying in state with a sad faced stream of mourners passing before the biers. That morning most of them had seen the couple pulsating with life and the joy of living either at the high school on their trip of inspection or as they drove through the crowded streets. Many had seen the first attempt on their lives; many others had seen the successful attempt of the young student. All had heard of the devotion of the couple; how the archduke had tried to shield the duchess and how she thought only of him in her dying moments.

Theirs had been a love match. In the circles of royalty the Duchess of Hohenberg was a Cinderella transformed by the magic wand of love to the highest grandeur and magnificence. She appealed with an especial romantic interest to Americans. She was a girl of good birth, as we would consider it, although not good enough to mate with royalty, as royalty thought. She was modest, unsophisticated and carefully educated for the conventional life of the Austrian court — the most conventional in Europe, with the exception of that of Spain, upon which it is modelled.

A more unlikely place than either court could scarcely be found for such a girl to make an advantageous marriage, or a more barren spot for the growth of the woodland rose of unworldly love. The differences in rank among the nobility themselves create barriers well nigh impassable for marriage unless accompanied by such extraordinary wealth that one might call it colossal. And royal blood is exalted with a mediaeval reverence long since dead and gone elsewhere in Europe.

Sophie von Chotek, who became the Duchess of Hohenberg, was not an actress nor a prima donna whom the jeunesse dore crowned queen of their night-life and then yielded to the prince whose superior position demanded their submission. She was not a Pompadour, a Du Barry or a Nell Gwyn, inveigling with the fascinations of the experienced courtesan a worn-out roue willing to sell his crown for the sensations of a new pleasure.

AN OLD-FASHIONED LOVE STORY

When Archduke Francis Ferdinand fell in love with her she was not beautiful and she was not rich. A motherless girl at eighteen, she had been since that time earning her living in an exacting position as companion, or hofdame, in the household of royalty — about the only conventional way open to women of good birth who do not wish to take the veil.

But at the age of thirty-two she made one of the most brilliant marriages in all history and became as much the legal wife of the future ruler of the Dual Monarchy as was possible with the rites of the Catholic Church and the decrees of the Imperial Parliament. The marriage could not have been more free from sordid considerations if both she and her husband had been simple peasant lovers. And on the other hand, the wife's position could not have been legally more secure if she had been born an archduchess.

It was a sweet old-fashioned love story, such as we are accustomed to think comes true only in our own democratic freedom.

This gentle Bohemian girl upset all the preconceived ideas of the marriages of princes, with their pompous family councils to weigh the microscopic differences in royal lineage and inherited fortune, and their solemn pourparlers of statesmen to use the alliance to strengthen the state against its enemies and provide successors upon its throne. And she upset the plans and the ideas of the Austrian Emperor and his cabinet, with the archdukes and archduchesses, just about one hundred strong, fighting them all and holding her lover true to his pledge through a period of twelve long years before he could make her his wife.

During those twelve years she exhibited talents for statecraft and diplomacy of the highest order. After the marriage, no one at the Austrian court or any other court in Europe was foolish enough to speculate about Austria's future without taking into account the Duchess of Hohenberg. But the most far-seeing statesmen were not afraid that she would attempt to become Empress of Austria or even Queen of Hungary. She was far too wise.

Hardly had the last Bosnian peasant viewed the bodies of the archduke and his wife than unexpected developments came to light; the developments that later shook the civilized world and were responsible for plunging practically all Europe into a titanic struggle.

Questioned by the police, Prinzip and his confederate involved high Servian officials in the plot to slay Francis Ferdinand and his duchess. Prinzip, a mere boy, said he had been reading anarchist books and periodicals from the time he was fourteen years old. He gloried in his deed, admitting his guilt and saying he felt no compunction for his act.

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Chapter III

High Feeling Against Servia in Austria — Demand for Satisfaction — Servians Reply — Austria Declares War on Servia — Efforts to Settle Differences by European Mediation — Emperor Francis Joseph Explains Austria's Attitude Toward Servia — The Match Touched to the European Powder Barrel.

AUSTRIA and Hungary seethed with feeling following the assassination of the archduke and his wife. It was only a question of days when Emperor Francis Joseph demanded a heavy reckoning.

Austria, knowing many of the details of the assassination plot and guessing at others, sent an ultimatum to Servia on Thursday, July 23rd, to which an answer was demanded in forty-eight hours. The note, which threw Belgrade into a state bordering on panic, reviewed the relations with Servia since 1909 and complained that, although the Servian government promised loyalty to the Austro-Hungarian government, it had failed to suppress subversive movements and agitations by the newspapers, and that this tolerance had incited the Servian people to hatred of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and contempt for its institutions.

"This," said the note, "culminated in the Sarajevo assassinations, which are proved by depositions and confessions of the perpetrators to have been hatched at Belgrade, the arms and explosives having been supplied by the connivance of Servian officers and functionaries.

"The Austro-Hungarian government is unable longer to pursue an attitude of forbearance, and sees the duty imposed upon it of putting an end to the intrigues which form a perpetual menace to the monarchy's tranquillity. It therefore demands from the Servian government formal assurance that it condemns the dangerous propaganda whose aim is to detach from the monarchy a portion of its territory, and also that the Servian government shall no longer permit these machinations and this criminal, perverse propaganda."

The note then gave the terms of a long formal declaration which the Servian government was required to publish in its official journal on the front page, condemning the subversive propaganda, deploring the fatal consequences of this, regretting the participation of Servian officers in this propaganda, repudiating any further interference with Austro-Hungarian interests and warning all Servian officers and functionaries and the whole Servian population that rigorous proceedings would be taken in the future against any persons guilty of such machinations.

This declaration should also be officially proclaimed to the Servian army and the Servian courts should undertake to suppress subversive publications and dissolve immediately the Pan-Servian society styled "Narodna Odbrana," confiscating all its means of carrying on a propaganda and suppress all similar societies having anti- Austrian tendencies, it was demanded.

Servia was further enjoined to eliminate from the educational system such tendencies, to remove all officers and functionaries guilty of an anti- Austrian propaganda, whose names and deeds the Austrian government reserved to itself the right of communicating to the Servian government; to accept the assistance of representatives of the Austro-Hungarian government in this work of suppression; to prosecute the accessories to the Sarajevo plot; to arrest Major Tankavitch, and a Servian state employee, Giganovitch, who were compromised by the Sarajevo magisterial inquiry; to stop the illicit traffic of arms and explosives across the frontier; to dismiss and punish the Servian officials in the frontier service guilty of assisting the assassins across the frontier ; to furnish the Austrian government with explanations of anti- Austrian utterances credited to high Servian officials since the Sarajevo crime, and finally to notify the Austrian government promptly of the execution of all the foregoing demands.

Appended to the note was a long memorandum detailing all the facts of Servian complicity elicited by the magisterial inquiry at Sarajevo.

SERVIANS REPLY TO AUSTRIA^ ULTIMATUM

Servia took the full time allotted to answer the ultimatum. Then the little country granted every condition demanded by Austria except the participation of Austrian officials in the inquiry, qualifying the refusal, however. A summary of the reply follows :