Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-01-01

The United States on July Z agreed
to allied action in Russia and prepare
tons were begun for an allied military
| expedition into Siberia. On the same
| day Count Won Mirbach, German am
| bassador TO Russia, was slain at Mos
COW. On July it was announced that
| the Thurman coast of Russia had
| thrown off bOlshevik rule and invited
aid from the allies. During July the
| first reports came from Russia of the
| execution of the former czar by local
| soviet and these reports later were
| confirmed.
General Foch opened the second
| phase of his commemorative on Au-
| gust s when surprise attack was
launched on a 20-mile front in Picardy,
the allies gaining seven miles at some
points and taking 1000 prisoners. The
following day Haig's men gained ID
miles in Picardy and the next day the
French, attacking on a 20mile front,
wiped out the Montdidier salient
Foch Hammers Foe.
Then followed a series of sledge-
hammer blows on all portions of the
front, all fitting into the general
scheme of attack worked out by the
master mind of Foch. On August 20
Lassigny fell and the former Somme
front was restored. British and French
armies. aided by American units, con-
| tinued the smash on the Somme front
and on August 80 the Germans were
hurled across the Somme. The British
took Bapaume and were close to
Peronne. Roye fell to the French and
dozens of small towns were wrested
from the invaders. Further north the
British smashed the Hindenburg line
and forced the Germans to begin re-
treat from the Lys salient.
On September u, the First Ameri-
can army, under the direct command
of General Pershing, began brilliant
action which wiped out the difficult
/ st. Mihiel salient In three days. The
Americans took 10000 prisoners in
this action.
Serbian, French and Italian forces,
on September Is, launched big drive
against the Bulgars in Macedonia. Al
most simultaneously the British broke
the Turk lines in the Holy Land. The
| Turkish army was shattered, and by
September q had lost $4,000 men in
prisoners. In the meantime the allies
smashed the Hindenburg line along
22-mile front in the st. Quentin sector,
| and it was announced at Washington
| that the United States now had 1,75O,-
| 600 men across the sea to aid in crush
| ing the crumbling armies of the enemy.
The first decisive break in the ranks
| of the central empires came on Sep
TENDER 81, when General Malinoff,
commander of the Bulgar armies
which were routed before the advanc-
ing Serbs and French, asked for an
armistice. On September so Bulgaria
accepted, the armistice terms pro-
posed by the allies and surrendered
Internationally.
Teutons Move for Peace.
! Turkey moved for peace on October
A and the German people were thrown
! into a panic as they saw their allies
crumbling Prince Max, who had now
| become German chancellor, addressed
a note to President Wilson, asking that
| steps be taken Immediately to conclude
an armistice and to open peace nego-
tiations President Wilson answered
| by asking whether he spoke for the
| people or the then rulers of the empire
! and whether the proposal was based
! on an acceptance of the presidents IA
peace points. Meanwhile the drive on
| the west front continued, and the Ger
| mans were driven from much ground
| that they had held since 1914. The
| Hindenburg line was smashed at many
| points Pershing's men broke the foes
main line of defense west of the Meuse
| and after days of bitter fighting clear
| ed the Germans out of Argonne forest.
| The Germans were forced to abandon
| the Chemin des Dan mes and to retreat
| on a long line from Laon as far east
| as Argonne.
| Germany sent another note to Pres
| ident Wilson on October -, accepting
| the latter's IA peace principles and
urging the president to transmit it's
proposal for an armistice to the allies.
| Prince Max assured the president that
| nv reason of constitutional changes
the existing German government spoke
for the people. President Wilson re-
| piled two days later, rejecting the Ger
| man proposals, declaring that any arm
| istfce must be granted by the military
commanders and must guarantee the
continued supremacy of the allied
arms.
The answer of the allied armies to
the German peace proposals was to
deliver still harder blows at the retir-
ing enemy. In the north the Belgian
army, led by King Albert, co-operat-
ing with the British, began to sweep
! the Germans from the Belgian coast
] q