Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-31
First
Americans
Killed in
France.

|
Ill France. ed in German RAID
III on American hos
! pitfalls in France.
| In September the
State Department made disclosures of
cooperation between Swedish and Ger
man diplomats in the transmission OF
military news to Berlin. involving the
| German minister and Swedish charge
d affaires in Mexico. On September Il,
Secretary Lansing made public the text
Of a message from Count Won BernstorH
] to Berlin, in January. 1917. asking au-
( thority to use $4,000 to influence Con-
gress through an organization which he
declared had performed similar pur-
pose before. On September ~. the
tum to Germany. demanding a formal
statement of -Germany's attitude on the
Luxburg exposures. Germany repned
| in a note disappearing the ideas ex-
| TENDER 25 the Argentine chamber of
! deputies declared in favor of a rupture
with Germany similar resolution had
already been passed by the senate:
Admiral Caps. head of the United
States Emergency Fleet Corporation,
announced shipbuilding program that
will bring Americas merchant mrine
to 2,100 ships of 14,500,G00 tons before
| the close of 1919.
| Great Britain announced the capture,
|
| miles northwest of Bagdad. on the
| Euphrates. and the taking of several
thousand prisoners. including the Turk
| fsh commander. Ahmed Bey. and his
staff
October British troops penetrated
the German lines to the average depth
of mile on the eight-mile front be-
tween the Ypres-Menin road and LANCE
marck. taking 1000 prisoners. october
% the French broke through the Ger
xff lev ry1fl isNff n
heavy losses and taking 5000 prisoners.
The great Austro-German offensive
against the Italians was launched along
the Isonzo front October "a, and within
ten days the Teuton forces had retakeh
all the territory won by the Italians in
two months fighting and had overrun
all of northern Italy. October 80 the
IAustro-Germans broke through the Car
Udine. the great railroad center in
northern Italy. October 81 Berlin re-
ported that 10000 Italians and more
than 1000 guns had been captured in
the operations up to that time;
On the Russian front the activity CEN
tered around the Gulf of Riga. October
IL the Germans captured part of the
island of Oesel. and the following day
they took Arenburg, capital of the is
land. October IA one Russian and two
German torpedo boats were sunk in a
naval battle near Oesel. October II the
Germans took full possession Of the Is
land of Oesel and the following day
they took Moon Island from the Rus
slams.
There was much activity in the air
during October. On the first day of the
month four groups of German airplanes
raided London and British coast towns
On the same day French afrmen made
reprisal raids on Frankfort. Stuttgart.
Treves and Coblenz and the British
bombed the Zeebrugge locks
The United States began to take
~ ha 6erh ftnx 4 ~
October, the first American troops GO
ing into the f1rst-line trenches in France
on October 20. On October II the
American transport Antilles. returning
with loss of sixty-seven lives. The
second American liberty loan of $3,-
000,o00,0o0 closed October 81 with an
oversubscr,ption Of nearly $4,000. oo0.-
lations with Germany October 6 and
Uruguay took similar action the fol-
lowing day. On October 26 Brazil de-
clared the existence of a state of war
with Germany.
On the sea the chief event of the
month was the sinking by two German
raiders of two British destroyers and
twelve Scandinavian merchantmen they
were conveying In the North sea on
October II. On October 81 the Ameri-
can transport Finland, returning from
France. was struck by a torpedo and
eight men were killed
On November 20 the British opened one
of the greatest offensives of the year on
the west front between St Quentin and
the Scarpe. In a surprise attack, begun
without the usual artillery preparation,
the British infantry, under Geh Byng,
headed by large force of tanks, smashed
through the Hindenburg line toward Cam
brai. taking many towns and thousands Of
prisonerR
Russia was thrown into civil war dur
Ing the month by counter revolution. by
a Two tSto 1Ias
the leadership Of NJ. Lenine. seized the
government at Petrograd on November g.
Premier Kerensky fled from Petrograd and
other members Of the cabinet Of the pro-
v1sional government were arrested. On
November 10 the rebel government made
Lenine premier. Kerensky, at the head
OF body Of loyal Cossack troops, attack
ed Petrograd November IL. but was badly
defeated. Heavy fighting also took place
| in Moscow. where the bolsheviki, as the
rebel forces are called. gained a decisive
+, victory November II. The bolsheyki were
apparently IN full control of Russia by
November %, when the Lenine govern
ment proposed general armistice to all
(, belligerents. On November % Ukraine de-
clared itself separated from Russia and on
f, November "a the Caucasus declared its in
| dependence from Russia.
American troops on the, west front suf-
fered their first casualties on November 8,
/ when German troops raided salient held
BY the Americans. killing three. wounding
..
J vember 5 the American patrol boat Alcedo
1 was sunk by torpedo and twenty-one
were lost. On November an American
commission, headed by Col E. M. House.
reached England en- route to Paris to at
| tend war conference OF the allies.
Gen. Dfaz, on November 8, was made
commander Of the Italian armies. sue
ceedtng Gen. Cadorna. who had been In
command since the beginning Of the war
| British troops made decisive gains in
Palestine during the month"; The capture
| OF Beersheba was announced November /
and on November the British took Tekrit
| after hard battle. GAIA was taken No
vember Z. and Jaffa November II.
Industrial unrest
Ill was apparent in the
lk Industrial United States
I'LL. ard throughout 1917,
I'LL largely as result
Ill ECONOMIC. OF war conditions
IU Early in tho year a