Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-11-09
EVENTS OF AWEEK,

%EE SS44dl 10 PCAAopS HoAAS~A ~S
week since the first days of August. 1914. began with
An announcement to the effect that Austria Hungary
had surrendered to the Allies and the United States.
acquiescing in every demand made by the conquerors.
The armistice agreement. enulmerating all the details
incident to the cessation Of hostilities. is one OF the most
drastic and sweeping documents known in the annals OF
modern warfare, and it is reported that the Austrian
emperor considered it humiliating to such an extent that
he refused to ahix his signature and had one duly &C.
credited member of the government do it in his stead.
The Austrian armistice agreement provided for I'M
mediate stopping Of fighting between the Allied armies
and those of Austria: for the complete rehabilitation
Of the Austrian armies; the evacuation of Italian terri
tory, including that part Italia irredenta) which Aus
tria wrongfully has kept in her possession for many
years; the surrender of a number of war vessels, in
GLIDING a designated number of modern submarines
as well as all German submarines in Austrian waters
or Austrian ports: the repatriation of all Allied and
American prisoners of war with no reciprocity on the
part Of the winners-etc, etc, in an impressively long
catalog of stringent conditions.
The most important stipulation Of the armistice
was, however, that by which the Allies and the United
states secured the right to march their troops and
transport their war material through ustro-Hungarian
territory for the purpose Of directing an attack on Ger
many on a front not very deliberately fortified, and there
is no doubt that this sudden change Of things had a
strong effect on the Germans SO that they lost no time
in beginning to make definite arrangements for an
armistice Of their own. Even before the Austrian armi-
stice terms were drawn up, the impression prevailed
throughout Germany that the gates from Austria lead
ing into Germany would be forced wide open by the
Allies, and this supposed fact was considered by those
German statesmen who prepared the popular mind for
later inevitable events.
While the Austrian surrender naturally commanded
easily eclipsed in Importance by the fact that the Allied
council at Versailles early in the week announced the
completion OF the terms to be imposed upon Germany.
What the terms were, was not announced, but it was
everywhere taken for granted that they were even more
ssfar-reaching and more humiiating than were those to
which Austria had submitted. Shortly after being noti-
fled that the terms were ready. the German government
appointed a delegation to proceed to Field Marshal
Foch's headquarters, not far from La Capelle, and leave
the rest to him. The French field marshal had been
authorized to act as supreme representative in the armi-
sstice discussions, and he sent word to the German dele
gates that he would receive them at a certain place
within the French lines. q
On the day the ENJOYS were supposed to have ar
rived at Field Marshal Foch's headquarters-for the
time being it was a railroad car, according to cabled
information1sthe news was enormously and carelessly
spread in the United States and other parts of the world
that the arnistice agreement had been signed, and that
the war virtually was at an end.~ The announcement
created a storm Of premature enthusiasm wherever it
was heard, and the United Press association which had
sent the unfounded information over it's wires. found
itself compelled to explain that it had received and for
warded the news on the authority Of an American ad-
miral, and that it was by no means official. Long be-
fore that explanation was forthcoming, the American
government had conclusievly established the fact that
the armistice agreement had not been signed, and that
the German plenipotenuaries had not arrived at the
french army headquarters at the time when it was
claimed the articles had been signed.
The first interview between Field Marshal Foch
and the German ENJOYS does not seem to have been par
tcularly successful as far as the Germans were con-
earned, for their request that hostilities be Professionally
I suspended was met with a peremptory denial, coupled
with the statement that il the Germans had anything
they would have q hours in which to do it. In conse-
squence OF this a courier was dispatched for further in
.sstructions to Spa where It appears that the German army
headquarters are established and where Emperor Will
liam is said to have taken up his temporary abode.
ss4 sNs . .
While the way for a possible attack on Germany
through Austria was being prepared. and while stringent
araistice terms were drawn up and German armies re-
t~treatinE on the western front, events in Germany took
i serious turn. and during the week tho cables have been
hardened by long reports Of disturbances ana riots in
snnany Of the great commercial and industrial centers OF
Nths Smpire. II wass safd that twenty thousand deserters
ssnon The army hayssbeens marchirss through the streets
pf Beriin: that sailors hayss taken the command away
shpm ohcers abcard the warships ii the Ktel canal and
eA6t distarbences amounting Is revolution. have
slt5ea4 fc ths cttiss 81 sssssig and Holstein. On Friday