The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-07-31
artered about like chattels.


bartered about like chattels.
Every territorial settlement must
be for the benefit and in the interest OF
the populations concerned.
And well-defined national aspira :
tions shall he met with the utmost
satisfaction consistent with the fur
ture peace.
Pope Benedict, In a pastoral letter
issued at Easter, made another appea
Tor concord among the peoples of the
world, but 1t brought forth no tangible
results At the Pope's behest, prayers
for peace were offered in Catholic
churches throughout the world on st.
Peters day, June %.
In April there came revelations
from Paris that Emperor Charles OF
austria had written letters to Prince
SNtus OF Bourbon, relative. In
these communications the Austrian
monarch conceded the claim of France
to Alsace and Lorraine and hinted
that peace Overtures would be welcOm-
ed. d
AS the result of this. Count Czernin.
the Austrian foreign minister was re-
moved from office.
The most recent addresses on the
subject Of peace have been delivered
In the German Reichstag, one by DIR
Richard Won Kuehlmann, the foreign
minister; and the other by Imperial
Chancellor Won Hertling. The form
er's sensational admission that the
sword by itself, could not bring peace
resulted in his resignation, and Won
Hertling's address voiced the senti-
ment that as long as the allies were
intent upon destroying Germany"
the war must go on,
The Enemy Offcnslvcs.
Last winter it became known that
the Germans were massing forces on
the western front. Reports came that
large units were training behind the
lines and that new and more terrible
engines OF war than had been known
before were to be used in German eff
fort to break the allied lines, crush
their armies and force them to make
peace. The drive was we'll advertis-
ed and even the place where it was to
be launched was known With cOmpar-
ative certainty.
On the morning of March 21, the
Germans began their attack from the
vicinity of Arras. on the north. to La
Fere, on the south, and centering their
heaviest columns against the British
forces, under General Cough, at st.
Quentin.
Staggering before the impact of the
blow, the British army fell back rap
idly. For eight days the Germans pour
ed through the old allied line in an
effort to crush the British and drive
4 wedge between them and the
French, who were holding the lines to
the south. Then came a period of re-
action and the Germans came to!
stop. They had driven ahead for
thirty-five miles. along front ex-
lending more than fifty miles before
hey were halted. lD
Hardly had their legions been held
before Amiens than a new offensive
was begun in Flanders on April 2.
1t swept. the British back through
but did not break their
lines. The British. with the French
who were rushed up to the front,
stopped the Germans after they had
reached the hills southwest of Ypres.
There, on April 3, the, Germans suf-,
fered a terrible defeat that halted
their offensive in that quarter.
Foch In Supreme Command.
In the midst Of the drive in the sec
tor toward ,Amiens the allied nations
took a vitality important step. They
named General Ferdinand FOch,
hero of the first battle of the Marne.
of the allied forces on
the Western front, which includes all
the line in Italy as well as in France.
Even the Murman coast. in northern
Russia, has been held to be under his
After period of quiet, the Germans
attacked once more, this time on the
Aisne river. and i'm seven days they
reached the Marne at Chateau-Thier-
~, making penetration of about
twenty eight miles. At the Marne they
were checked and the impetus of the
blow was broken.
With hardly a days pause for re-
organization of their forces, the Ger
mans again attacked, choosing the
sector between Montdidier and Noyon,
on the southern side of the salient
driven into the allied line during the
March offensive, as the stage of their
This offensive ran for five
days and was stopped north of Com
piegne after losses which were de-
scribed as unprecedented had been in
fiicted upon the Germans.
From June Ia until July Is the Ger
mans were engaged in shifting their
forces and then they again struck. This
time the line Of attack was from
eastward, around to
the north Of Rheims and then down
the Vesle river to Prunay and from
that village eastward to Massignes
This attack at the close Of the year de-
veloped into one of the most am
bilious of the German strokes.
German forces crossed the Marine
over wide front, but were unable to
make ground against American troops
near Chateau-Thierry, and could not
advance rapidly further east.