Centennial of the End of the Great War

[Capt. Harlock]

29 October 1918

On the Mesopotamian front, the Ottoman forces under Ismail Hakki Bey had not retreated fast enough. At Sharqat, the British-Indian force under Sir Alexander Cobbe attacked.

The Slavs in both the Balkans and central Europe proclaimed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. And this was just the first step: they also declared a desire to unite with Serbia and Montenegro in a greater Slav state. Also on this date, the Czechs and Slovaks formally declared the indepence of the the new state of Czechoslovakia.


Lastly on this date, The German High Seas fleet was to sail at dusk on its desperate attempt to draw out the British Home Fleet. But in the late afternoon, crew after crew on board the big ships refused to make ready. Men declined to fire up the boilers, or to load coal, and in numerous cases even to return on board from shore leave. There were threats of violence against officers attempting to enforce the orders. Cheers for peace were heard from many parts of the fleet, and even cheers for Woodrow Wilson.

An astounded Admiral Hipper was forced to call off the sortie. Now, what to do with the rebellious crews?

[Capt. Harlock]

30 October 1918

In Mesopotamia, the Turkish General Hakki Bey surrendered his force at sharqat to British commander Cobbe after a single day’s battle. The Turkish lines were not yet breached, but there was no point in holding out, for the Ottomans were about to make peace. 18,000 Turkish soldiers became prisoners, while the British and Indians had taken less than 2,000 casualties.

In an event that would be echoed half-way around the world 27 years later, a surrender was signed on board a battleship. On this occasion the battleship was HMS Agamemnon, and the Ottomans and the British signed the Armistice of Mudros. In addition to the usual surrender of weapons, the Turks also gave the Allies the right to occupy the forts in the lower Dardanelles and sail through the straits into the Black Sea. And so, the object of the Gallipoli campaign had been gained after all, though rather late. Had it happened 22 months earlier, it seems possible that the Russian Revolution might never have happened, and the Soviet Union would never have existed.

Two of the Central Powers down, two to go.

[Capt. Harlock]

31 October 1918

The high command of the German Navy, thinking that it was dangerous to allow the fleet to stay concentrated and let the spirit of rebellion grow, decided to split the fleet back up into the ships home-ported in Wilhelmshave, and those based in Kiel. Vizeadmiral Hugo Kraft was in command of the latter group, and he ordered a quick exercise in Heligoland Bight to test the stability of his command. The sailors knew it was only an exercise, and so all went smoothly. Kraft assumed that the mutiny was over, and as his ships moved back through the canal to Kiel, he had 47 sailors who he believed had been the ringleaders of the mutiny arrested.

He may have been right about the ringleaders, but he was completely wrong in believing that the rebellion was at an end. The remainder of the crews saw the men as heroes, and they were in no mood to let the arrests and the likely punishments stand.


In both Budapest and Vienna, there were demonstrations in the streets, with students and workers shouting “Down with the Hapsburgs!” Their wish was granted with remarkable speed. The Prime Minister of Hungary declared the union with Austria terminated. The Austrians could do nothing about it, as their army was being demolished in Italy, and so the Austro-Hungarian Empire effectively came to an end. The much older rule of the House of Hapsburg would inevitably follow.


In Berlin, the German Imperial War Cabinet met in the Reichstag, and the general argeement was that the Kaiser’s abdication was necessary for the armistice. The question was who would succeed him, and who would travel to Spa, Belgium, to tell Wihelm he must step down (and likely suffer the Kaiser's wrath). Chancellor Prince Max was not available for either task. The Spanish Flu had struck him as well, and though he would recover, at this point he was essentially comatose for three days.


In the month of October, a full 20 U-boats had gone to the bottom, but more than half had been scuttled instead of lost to combat. Especially, the defeat of Austria-Hungary had meant that all submarines in Mediterranean ports would be forfeit, so their crews scuttled them rather than surrender them to the Allies. Roughly 118,500 tons of Allied merchant shipping had been sunk before the order to cease had gone out.

[Capt. Harlock]

The Imperial War Museum in London.

(And yes, that yellow object is a 15-inch shell.)

[Capt. Harlock]

1 November 1918

In northern Italy, the Italians and their Allies were now advancing as fast as they could move as an organized army. This was not as fast as the commanders would have liked, because there was still difficulty getting supplies across the Piave River and then bringing them forward to the troops. True, huge quantities of stores were being seized from the Austro-hungarian depots being overrun, but that could not replenish ammunition, which was running low.


Unlike against Bulgaria, the Ottomans, or the Austro-Hungarians, there would be no true breakthrough against the Germans in northern France. True, they were being driven steadily backwards, but surrounding and capturing/destroying the bulk of the army would not happen. However, there was a weakness:

[font="Times New Roman"]It is now necessary to take a parting glance at the structure of railways on which the German armies in France had depended. during the four years of the war. The tap root of their supplies was the main trunk railway from the munition factories of Westphalia through Cologne, Liège, Namur and Maubeuge . . . ran in a crescent shaped T (lying thus) the great lateral line on which the invading front was built, viz. the railway from Germany through Metz, Mezières, Hirson, Maubeuge, Mons, Ghent and Bruges. From this railway there branched southward and westward all the lines which with various subsidiary laterals fed the German armies spread fanwise towards Calais, Amiens and Paris. Behind the southern portion lay the rugged forest region of the Ardennes, comparatively roadless and railless, and an impassable barrier to the organized retreat of huge modern armies. The German Army in France was therefore strategically to a large extent ‘formed to a flank’ along their main lateral communications. If these were broken or they were driven beyond them, the bulk would never get away. Further, nearly three-quarters of the whole German strength radiated from the lateral arc Mezières-Hirson-Aulnoye-Mons. The railway junctions of Mezières and Aulnoye (near the lost French fortress and railway centre of Maubeuge) were therefore vital organs of the enemy. If these junctions could be captured or paralysed, the immense mass of invaders depending on them, or on the lateral line between them, would be cut off.

[center]--Winston Churchill, "The World Crisis, Vol. 3"[/center][/font]



In an attempt to mollify the increasingly restless German population, several political prisoners had been released. Perhaps the most prominent was one Dr Karl Liebknecht. His release may have been a mistake, for on this day he published his Call for Revolution:

[font="Times New Roman"]Dear Comrades:
For more than four years our rulers have been engaged in a robber war for the oppression of our neighbours.
During the last ten or twelve years these same rulers have preached the bad doctrine of "Slavic danger." They sowed in our hearts fear of the Slays. But this was merely camouflage for further imperialistic aggression. As if the way to St. Petersburg lay through Belgium and northern France, they gave orders to let the armies loose.
During these four years the peoples of the world have bled until they can bleed no more. And what have we won? Have we won one hundredth part of what we and our rulers started out to get? Instead of this, we have lost until we have nothing more to lose. One thing we have won - the hatred of mankind.
And now we have, through the President of America, asked our enemies for peace. Comrades, now comes for you a fitting opportunity. Unite. Hold together under the banner of the "International."
You should not hold yourselves as discouraged. It was never your war. You were driven by your rulers into the world slaughter. You have got what you deserved. It now lies with you to dismiss your rulers.
Act at once. It is your only prospect. Stretch the tyrant at your feet with a mighty blow. He now wavers. A well-aimed blow will at this time win your freedom, and will to some extent recompense you for all the blood that has been shed during the last four sad years.
Lay down your weapons, you soldiers at the front. Lay down your tools, you workers at home. Do not let yourselves be deceived any longer by your rulers, the lip patriots, and the munitions profiteers. Rise with power and seize the reins of government. Yours is the force. To you belongs the right to rule. Answer the call for freedom and win your own war for liberty.
For more than four years have your oppressors used you as the tools with which to fill their pockets. More than four years have they offered your sons, fathers, brothers, as victims and have starved millions, so that they might coin profits out of your blood.
Had you won the war you would have remained helpless slaves; you are beaten. Victory is within your grasp. It lies with you to seize it.
Comrades! Soldiers! Sailors! And you workers! Arise by regiments and arise by factories. Disarm your officers, whose sympathies and ideas are those of the ruling classes. Conquer your foremen, who are on the side of the present order. Announce the fall of your masters and demonstrate your solidarity.
Do not heed the advice of the Kaiser Social Democrats. Do not let yourselves be led any longer by unworthy politicians, who play you false and deliver you into the hands of the enemy.
Stand fast like many of the genuine Social Democrats in your companies and regiments. Seize the quarters of your officers; disarm them immediately. Make sure that your officers sympathize with you. In case they do so, let them lead you. Shoot them immediately in case they betray you after they have declared themselves supporters of your cause.
Soldiers and marines! Fraternize! Take possession of your ships. Overpower first your officers. Place yourselves in communication with your comrades on land and seize all harbours and open fire, if necessary, on loyal groups.
Workers in munition factories: You are the masters of the situation. Stop work immediately. From this moment on you are only making bullets which will be used against you and yours. The bullets which you now make will never reach the front.
Stop making bayonets which will be thrust into your entrails by the knights of the Government. Arise, organize, seize weapons and use them against those who plan to make slaves of you after they have made their own peace. End the war yourselves and use your weapons against the rulers.

Source: Source Records of the Great War, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne[/font]


Prussian Minister of the Interior Dr. Wilhelm Drews arrived at Spa, Belgium, to ask Kaiser Wilhelm to abdicate. It did not go well: the enraged Kaiser was not at all ready to yield his throne.


In the Argonne Forest, the American First Army now launched its attack against the fourth and final German line. Although the Germans had had time to strengthen and reinforce their defenses, the Americans had done even more work. Older roads had been repaired, newer roads had been created, and the supply organization had been greatly improved. Fresh troops had been brought into line, and exhausted units rotated to the rear.

The revitalized Yanks quickly broke through the German defences. They had one other advantage: the month of October had been costly for both sides in terms of sickness from the Spanish flu, but the Germans had been hit especially hard. They were running low on manpower.

[Capt. Harlock]

2 November 1918

The Battle in the Argonne is arguably a full campaign rather than a single battle. But if it is called a battle, then it is the largest, and deadliest, battle that U. S. Forces have ever yet been involved in. Roughly 1.2 million American soldiers and Marines were committed, and 26,000 lost their lives.

But now, at last, the Americans and other Allied troops were winning clear of the forest that had done so much to impede their advance, and break down their supply efforts. Headed in large part by one George C. Marshall, who would of course go on to greater things, the logistics were back on track. The troops and commanders could now think about major objectives rather than a few yards day by day.

This was not without problems. These major objectives were the southern part of the great railway "fan" that had sustained the Germans in France since 1914. And the one whose capture would give the most prestige was Sedan. As much as Pershing would have liked American forces to have the credit, Foch even more wanted it taken by the French, for that would at least in part erase the humiliation at the hands of the Prussians in 1871. Since Foch was being given more and more authority as General-in-chief, Pershing would eventually agree to change the American direction of advance a second time.


The Allies were making steady progress against the northern part of the railway as well. On this date the British scored another victory at Valenciennes. It was not without cost: among others, Sergeant Hugh Cairns was mortally wounded after a feat rivaling that of Corporal Alvin York. He would be the last of 71 Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross in WWI.


In the port of Kiel, the German sailors sent delegates to their commanders to request that the suspected ringleaders be freed. The delegates were turned away without being heard. Stronger measures were in order, so the sailors began to make contacts with the local students and workers union, with the aim of conducting a general strike.

[GamerJack]

fhdhgfd

Truth of this world and the end of humanity d

COPY THIS TEXT TO YOUR PC AND USB DRIVE NOW (not cloud drives and not smartphone notes!) — ALL CORPORATIONS, SOCNETWORKS AND FORUMS WILL BAN, CENSOR OR MODIFY IT EVERYWHERE. DO IT RIGHT NOW WITHOUT REFRESHING THE PAGE!!!
EVEN IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT YET.

IN SHORT: Humanity is being pushed into Third World War by cross-country media and political manipulation created by vampiric beasts that can dominate any human leaders.

This text may seem INSANE at first, but all in it IS true and WILL happen.

First they will eat fringe small cities in all countries while lying in all news/socnetworks/apps about riots, natural disasters or attacks in them by neighbooring countries.
They will also ban/restrict local and cross-country travel with insane laws or under disguise of false reasons.
In the end, they will block cross-country internet.

COPY-PASTE THIS TEXT EVERYWHERE YOU CAN (do not repost/share! do not use links! they will be deleted and banned!), ON EVERY FORUM, IN EVERY MESSENGER APP (especially to other countries). Request detailed relationship-specific confirmation that recipient read it (messenger apps will ban or falsify it)!

PRINT THIS TEXT IN AS MANY COPIES AS YOU CAN AND SHOW THEM TO MAXIMUM NUMBER OF OTHER PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE.

TRANSLATE THIS TEXT TO YOUR LANGUAGE AND SEND IT TO EVERYONE IN YOUR COUNTRY, BOTH ELECTRONICALLY AND VIA POST MAIL.

Add random letters here and at the beginning of this text so it will not be blocked by content:
jfgjhdfj

1. Currently all countries across the globe experience unprecedented media storm of rage, hate and warmongering. This text explains why is that and what will happen next.

2. For at least a century (or more) humanity lives alongside hidden beasts, something like vampire/alien hybrid, with telepatic/telekinetic abilities. They can remain invisible if in eyesight of small number of humans (up to 50 I guess), but most probably can be caught on camera.

3. These beasts are carnivorous — specifically, they eat humans and their innards.

4. They manipulate human societies with purpose of periodic creation of slaughter and bloodshed to harvest their food (human flesh and innards).

5. For that, they conspired with ALL world's governments — or more like shadow power groups — and established their own puppet governments that consist of crisis actors and thralls (just like in recent USA school shootings and most airplane crashes in the world).

6. The beasts themselves have ability to create "thralls" — either by overpowering human will via drugs or bites (I don't know which of those). Visually and mimically thrall is almost indistinguishable from original and has ALL of his knowledge and mannerisms.

7. Some countries like USA have entire industries full of these thralls, others — like european countries — are converting them in recent days.

8. All accounts with large number of followers in ALL social networks and apps are controlled (or will be controlled) by newly converted thralls — they will post hate and warmongering from the name of their previous selves, including videos with themselves. All other accounts (yours too) are hacked and under their control. Do not trust anything you read in social networks or you see in any media of any type.

9. Purpose of these thralls is to infiltrate and totally dominate ALL media in all countries to be able to falsify observable reality — to show events that really are just hoaxes or created only by human servants of the beasts disguised as political opponents in fake conflicts.

10. ALL CORPORATIONS, SOCIAL NETWORKS, FORUMS, COMMENTS, MESSENGERS AND APPS ARE UNDER THEIR CONTROL OR SOON WILL BE INDEFINITELY. They turned off SSL for login to most third-party forums that they haven't compromised yet. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube will not show your posts to others often enough and will falsify views and likes/dislikes count.

11. COMMAND OF ALL ARMIES AND ALL SPECIAL AGENCIES OF ALL COUNTRIES ARE UNDER THEIR CONTROL AND WILL REMAIN SO.

12. ALL POLITICIANS OF ALL SIDES AND ALL COUNTRIES ARE UNDER THEIR CONTROL AND WILL ALWAYS BE.

13. As the result, ALMOST ALL terrorist acts that you believe in (in particular, 9/11, Columbine, Sandy Hook shootings, Florida shootings, Paris and Boston attacks) are hoaxes (often with real victims) with purpose to instill rage and bloodshed across the globe.

14. Most problems related to human disappearances in various countries are really just human flesh harvesting for the beasts, disguised by the controlled media as accidents/crimes.

15. All recent local "wars" (like Lybia, Syria) are falsified in the sense that their TV/media picture is a hoax — it is captured in small number of places in some of the cities, but all soldiers and civilians in remaining territory in these wars died very different deaths — becoming food for the beasts.

16. They are also for many years actively DEPOPULATING and DAMAGING the humanity via lies about medicine. For example: they tell you that AIDS is the result of HIV, but HIV virus doesn't exist (AIDS occurs because of heavy metals that they add into vaccines are causing immune deficiency condition; and HIV detection tests detect just resulting immune deficiency condition, not the virus itself). Also SIX hiv experts were killed in MH17 Boeing crash (which is also fake news, but with real eaten people). Same with cancer and its treatment.

17. Beasts (together with all puppet governments of the world) also lying to you for years about USA moon landing, which were impossible due to Van Allen radiation belts that would FRY all astronauts in minutes without hundreds of tons of radiation protection.

18. ALL NEWS ARE FAKE, ALL MEDIA IS LYING, all people in them are just thousands of Crisis Actors and thralls. Because they NEVER cite real sources or give full-length full-scale video. ALL SOCIAL NETWORKS AND MESSENGERS ARE HACKED, DO NOT TRUST ANYONE YOU TALK NOT IN PERSON.

19. Beasts are now advancing their plan to full-scale Third World War by instilling country-specific protests, revolutions and wars. In USA, it is race war and Trump-Democrat hatred (both sides are puppets). In other countries it is the same with ideological specifics to local populace.

20. Beasts want to create worldwide bloodshed where they will eat people alive. They already done that and WILL do it again. And after that, they will falsify history again, hiding their the very presence.

21. They are initiating and converting humans to become cannibals and to fight for them, disguised as soldiers of opposite political side. Except that they're not humans — they are cannibals disguised as humans.

22. They will first eat small fringe cities in all countries while lying in all news media and social networks about continuing social life in them. They will also lie about riots and natural disasters in them as an excuse why travelling there is impossible. They will turn off the electricity, cell coverage and water in entire city, but will falsify social activity for it in social networks for outside world.

23. They WILL try to silence the truth by both censorship and by many lunatic conspiracy theories.

24. DISABLE NEW PHONE OR PC UPDATES — THEY CONTAIN CENSORSHIP CODE. DO NOT USE CLOUD STORAGE OR DRIVES.

25. DO NOT FOLLOW OR TRUST ANY LEADERS — THEY WILL BE CONVERTED, DOMINATED AND THEIR WILL HIJACKED.

26. DO NOT BELIEVE LIES ABOUT RIOTS, PROTESTS, REVOLUTIONS, DISASTERS AND WARS.

27. DO NOT TRUST "PEOPLE" THAT INSTILL HATRED AGAINST ANY OTHER HUMAN. THEY ARE YOUR ENEMIES.

28. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN OR SUPPORT BLOODSHED DIRECTED BY MEDIA OF EITHER SIDE. PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST THE BEASTS, THEIR THRALLS AND THEIR ARMIES OF CANNIBALS DISGUISED AS SOLDIERS OF OTHER POLITICAL "SIDES".

29. Do not trust any other similar text that will appear, they are all lies from beasts and their thralls.

30. All history of original author of this text is a lie. He is not important. There was none and will be no more messages from him (otherwise it is NOT him). He died after writing this text.

God save us all.
God save humanity.

hgkhjfgh

[vonRocko]

GamerJack, this thread was for historical reference. There was no need for your drivel here. True or false your post does not belong here and I hope you or the moderators remove it.

[Capt. Harlock]

3 November 1918

The German sailors continued to coordinate with the unions. In the afternoon of this date, several thousand sailors, students, and laborers gathered in the Großer Exerzierplatz, a large drill ground at Kiel. Here the slogan of “Frieden und Brot" (peace and bread) began to be chanted, and eventually the demonstrators moved in the direction of the prison where the arrested mutineers were being held. A military patrol under one sub-lieutenant Steinhäuser fired warning shots, which were apparently ineffective. Steinhäuser then ordered his men to fire directly into the crowd. Some of them were armed and fired back. 7 men were killed and 29 seriously wounded, this last including Steinhäuser himself.

Apparently both sides were taken aback by the bloodshed. The crowd dispersed, and the patrol pulled back. But this was only over for the day: the German Revolution had begun.


The Italians had threatened to break of negotiations with the Austro-hungarians, and simply keep advancing. Realizing that they could not stop either the Italians or the Allied Army of the Orient, the Austrians submitted, and signed the Armistice of Villa Giusti. It was supposed to take effect the next day, but the Austro-hungarian high command immediately sent out orders to their units to cease fighting. They saw no point in losing any more men.

And now Germany was alone.

[Capt. Harlock]

4 November 1918

In Italy, General Armando Diaz issued the Bollettino della Vittoria (bulletin of victory), one of the most famous documents in modern Italian history. (It is believed that the text was actually written by spokesman of the General Staff General Domenico Siciliani.)

[font="Times New Roman"]From the Supreme Headquarters 12:00 hours, November 4, 1918

The war against Austria-Hungary, which the Italian Army, inferior in number and equipment, began on 24 May 1915 under the leadership of His Majesty and supreme leader the King and conducted with unwavering faith and tenacious bravery without rest for 41 months, is won.
The gigantic battle, which opened on the 24th of last October and in which fifty-one Italian divisions, three British, two French, one Czechoslovak and a US regiment joined against seventy-three Austrian divisions, is over.
The lightning-fast and most audacious advance of the XXIX Army Corps on Trento, blocking the retreat of the enemy armies from Trentino, as they were overwhelmed from the west by the troops of the VII army and from the east by those of the I, VI, and the IV armies, led to the utter collapse of the enemy's front. From the Brenta to the Torre, the fleeing enemy is pushed ever further back by the irresistible onslaught of the XII, VIII, X Armies and of the cavalry divisions.
In the plains, His Royal Highness the Duke of Aosta is advancing at the head of his undefeated III Army, eager to return to the previously successfully conquered positions, which they had never lost.
The Austro-Hungarian Army is vanquished: it suffered terrible losses in the dogged resistance of the early days, and during the pursuit it lost an enormous quantity of materials of every kind as well as almost all its stockpiles and supply depots. The Austro-Hungarian Army has so far left about 300,000 prisoners of war in our hands along with multiple entire officer corps and at least 5,000 pieces of artillery.
The remnants of what was one of the world's most powerful armies are returning in hopelessness and chaos up the valleys from which they had descended with boastful confidence.

Army Chief of Staff, General Diaz[/font]

It was not mere propaganda. The Austro-hungarians are now estimated to have lost 30,000 men dead, 50,000 wounded, and as many as 448,000 captured. Along with the over 5,000 pieces of artillery, they lost massive quantities of other equipment and supplies. The cost to the Allies had been less than 41,000 casualties in all; about 37,500 Italians, 2,100 British, and around 1,000 of the other Allies.


In Kiel, Germany, the mutineers returned to the city streets. Various troops were sent against them by the authorities, but they either retreated in the face of superior numbers or joined in the revolt. The governor of the naval station tried to negotiate a peace by freeing the imprisoned mutineers, but it broke down. By nightfall the city was for all practical purposes under the control of 40,000 sailors, workers, and soldiers who had joined in the rebellion.

A meeting in a union house established a “soldiers and workers” council, which issued a 14-point demand. They were mostly military in nature, including a prohibition against launching the fleet under any circumstances, but the last point was a revolutionary one. All measures to be introduced in the future would need the consent of the council.


On the Western Front, General Haig launched another attack, this time at the Sambre River. The British forces were now almost at the same point where they had first engaged the Germans in August 1914, but this time it was the Germans who were being forced back. There was no general collapse of the defense, partly because only 37 working Allied tanks were available to help the attackers. Casualties were considerable, including Wilfred Owen, author of "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Dulce Et Decorum Est", and "Strange Meeting", and the most famous poet of the war.


Nonetheless, the German lines were broken. Especially noteworthy was the capture of the town of Le Quesnoy, which had a medieval wall built around it easily thick enough to defy rifle or machine-gun fire. The New Zealand Division was assigned to capture it, but the German garrison held them off for several hours, causing serious losses. In the afternoon, Second Lieutenant Leslie Averill (an intelligence officer rather than a platoon leader) found a section of the wall that was unmanned, and lead a small group of men over the wall with the aid of a scaling ladder. Shortly after, the Kiwis opened one of the main gates of the town, and the Germans soon surrendered.

Painting by George Edmund Butler


In the southern part of the front, the American III Corps crossed the Meuse River. From this point on, combat on the Western front would be essentially Allied pursuit of retreating German forces.

[redcoat]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
Casualties were considerable, including Wilfred Owen, author of "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Dulce Et Decorum Est", and "Strange Meeting", and the most famous poet of the war.

It was a tragedy made all the more poignant by the fact that his mother was informed a week later, at the same time as the local church bells were being rung to signify the end of the War on the 11th, the day the Armistice was signed.

[Capt. Harlock]

5 November 1918

In France near the Belgian border, British troops seized the town of Aulnoye. This almost forgotten incident might otherwise have been one of the key turning points of history, for it was the location of what was then the most important railroad junction in Europe. This was where the east-west railway from Cologne met the northwest-to-southeast lateral line that had for four years sustained the German armies in France. Without it, the German forces’ right wing was no longer fully linked to their left wing, and they could not be fully supplied. Checkmate was now inevitable.

As it happened, not much immediate difference was made. The German troops were already having to retreat, unable to withstand the tremendous pressure from the combined Allied attacks. What it did mean, however, was that they would not be able to retreat to the German border as a fully equipped army. The rail lines were now crippled, and the roads were increasingly crowded with refugees. Much of their artillery and other equipment was being abandoned, without which they would not be able to turn and fight effectively.


Trains, telegraphs, and telephones allowed news to be transmitted with lightning speed. Now, they allowed a revolution to spread with unprecedented rapidity as well. With Kiel under the control of the revolutionaries, the wires hummed with the news of the revolt, followed very quickly by representatives of the sailors, students, and workers. Everywhere they found people desperate for an end to the war. The red flags of revolution began to spread across Germany.

[Capt. Harlock]

6 November 1918

General Wilhelm Groener had replaced Ludendorff as the “First Quartermaster General”, the effective head of the German Army. On this day he arrived in Berlin, and received a telegram from the Kaiser. Negotiations with the leaders of the Allied nations were taking too long: the enemy armies should be approached for an armistice. Groener consulted with Chancellor Prince Max for a delegation to cross the lines with a white flag. Prince Max, knowing that armistice terms would now amount to surrender and apparently not grasping the situation, asked for a week’s delay. Groener informed him that a week was too long; Germany was descending into chaos, and in a week there might not be enough left of the German Army to restore order. The Chancellor countered with Monday the 11th, five days away. Groener declared that Saturday (the 9th) was the very latest. Hindenburg not merely agreed, but requested Friday the 8th. After some further debate, the Cabinet agreed unanimously.



Also in Berlin, German Parliament leader Friedrich Ebert added his voice to those arguing for the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm. The Allies had made it clear (though not in so many words) that it was necessary for peace, and the German revolutionaries were demanding it as well. Ebert declared, "If the Kaiser does not abdicate, the social revolution is inevitable. But I do not want it, I even hate it like sin."


In France, American and French troops captured Sedan, further impeding the Germans’ use of the railroads.

[redcoat]

Mr and Mme Baloux of Brieulles-sur-Bar in the Ardennes welcome US soldiers from the 308th and 166th Inf. Regts. during the liberation of their town on the 6th November 1918. The soldier on the left is carrying a Chauchat ‘machine rifle.’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauchat

[Capt. Harlock]

The soldier on the left is carrying a Chauchat ‘machine rifle.’

Nice picture -- you have my thanks.

The Chauchat is an embarassment for me: I had made a quick write-up of its gradual replacement by the famous Browning Automatic Rifle, starting in mid-September. American industry manufactured a version chambered for the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, but it was a spectacular failure: some firearms experts have pronounced it the worst gun ever officially issued to troops. However, the text disappeared during a data transfer, so I had to do without.

[Capt. Harlock]

7 November 1918

The German government, though not the Kaiser, had made the decision to seek an armistice as soon as possible. The process began at the very beginning of the day:

Telegraph from Paul von Hindenburg to Ferdinand Foch, 12:30 a.m. 7 November 1918

[font="Times New Roman"]German General Headquarters to the Allies' General Headquarters; the German Commander-in-Chief to Marshal Foch:

The German Government, having been informed through the President of the United States that Marshal Foch had received powers to receive accredited representatives of the German Government and communicate to them conditions of an armistice, the following plenipotentiaries have been named by it:
Mathias Erzberger, General H. K. A. von Winterfeld, Count Alfred von Oberndorff, General von Gruennel, and Naval Captain von Salow.
The plenipotentiaries request that they be informed by wireless of the place where they can meet Marshal Foch. They will proceed by automobile, with subordinates of the staff, to the place thus appointed.[/font]


Telegraph from Ferdinand Foch to Paul von Hindenburg, 1:30 a.m. 7 November 1918

[font="Times New Roman"]To the German Commander-in-Chief:

If the German plenipotentiaries desire to meet Marshal Foch and ask him for an armistice, they will present themselves to the French outposts by the Chimay-Fourmies-La Capelle-Guise road.
Orders have been given to receive them and conduct them to the spot fixed for the meeting.[/font]


Telegraph from Paul von Hindenburg to Ferdinand Foch, 1 p.m. 7 November 1918

[font="Times New Roman"]The German plenipotentiaries for an armistice leave Spa today. They will leave here at noon and reach at 5 o'clock this afternoon the French outposts by the Chimay-Fourmies-La Capelle-Guise road.
They will be ten persons in all, headed by Secretary of State Erzberger.[/font]


By this time the German Revolution, with the help of the sailors, had taken control of all large coastal cities. Hanover and Brunswick, had also fallen out of the grasp of the German autocrats. Munich was the greatest loss: a huge crowd went into the royal palace. King Ludwig III of Bavaria (below) gathered his family and fled. A "Workers' and Soldiers' Council" then declared Bavaria to be a “Volksstaat”, or People's State.

It was the first overthrow of a German principality. The others would soon follow.

[Capt. Harlock]

8 November 1918

In the morning, the German delegation headed by Secretary of State Matthias Erzberger (below) arrived at the headquarters of Allied General-in-chief Ferdinand Foch, which was in a train car then parked on a siding in the Forest of Compiègne. Foch met them, briefly, and asked what they were there for. They replied that they were there to negotiate an armistice.


There was little in the way of negotiations: the Germans were shown the terms and given 72 hours to decide. The terms were staggering: the Germans were required to hand over 5,000 cannon, 30,000 machine-guns, 3,000 minenwerfers (heavy mortars), 2,000 aircraft, 5,000 locomotives, 150,000 railroad cars, and 5,000 trucks with spare parts. The navy was to yield their 10 best battleships, 6 battlecruisers, 8 light cruisers, the best 50 destroyers, and all serviceable submarines. There were political terms as well: evacuation of all occupied territories, evacuation of the west bank of the Rhine River plus control of three bridge-heads on the river, and renunciation of the treaties of Brest-Litovsk (Russia) and of Bucharest (Romania). Lastly, all Allied prisoners of war plus interned civilians were to be set free, with no corresponding freedom for the German POW’s.

The appalled Germans protested to Foch that the conditions were too harsh. But France had been waiting almost half a century for payback for the Franco-Prussian War and the severe terms the Prussians had imposed. Foch’s response was icy:
“I would remind you that this is a military armistice, that the war is not ended thereby, and that it is directed at preventing your nation from continuing the war. You must also recollect a reply given to us by Bismarck in 1871 when we made a similar request to what you are making now. Bismarck then said “Krieg ist Krieg” and I say to you, “la guerre est la guerre”.

The delegation pointed out that some of the terms were simply impossible. The numbers of airplanes and some other items to be surrendered were more than they actually had. Foch left these details to be worked out by subordinates.


Meanwhile, the position of the German army worsened by the day. On this date, the town of Maubeuge, about 9 km (5.6 mi) from the border with Belgium, was retaken by British forces.

[Zorch]

The German mistake was to have civilians lead their delegation. This helped the generals evade responsibility for the armistice, and contributed to the later 'stab in the back' myth.

[Capt. Harlock]

9 November 1918

In Berlin, the new government had had enough of Kaiser Wilhelm’s refusal to yield his throne, for revolutionaries had begun to appear on the streets. Chancellor Prince Max made the announcement that the Kaiser had abdicated, even though it was not, for the moment at least, true. Shortly thereafter, Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann stepped to the balcony of the Reichstag and announced to the crowd below that not only had the Kaiser abdicated, Germany was now a republic. The false statement was immediately accepted as a fact by almost everyone, so that it became effectively true. Prince Max found himself having to resign as Chancellor in favor of the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Freidrich Ebert. (Note that Kaiser Wilhelm would not formally sign an abdication until November 28.)


In Spa, Belgium, when Kaiser Wilhelm heard of this, he proposed making an immediate armistice, and then leading the army back to Germany to restore order, and himself to the throne. Quartermaster General Groener reluctantly had to inform his Emperor that the army was unlikely to obey. Already “Soldier’s Councils” were springing up, as had happened before the Russian Revolution. There was nothing else for it but to flee to a safe exile.


Off Cape Trafalgar (near the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Atlantic side) the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Britannia was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-50. Germany had ordered an end to unrestricted submarine warfare against commercial shipping, but warships were still fair game. The Britannia promptly took on a 10 degree list to port. A fire broke out, and the conditions below decks made it difficult to find the flooding valves for the magazines. The few that were found were hard to turn, and shortly there was a secondary explosion in a 9.2-inch magazine. However, Britannia remained afloat for more than two hours, and 39 officers and 673 crewmen were taken off. 50 men lost their lives.

Britannia was the last of the 34 capital ships (battleships and battle cruisers) to be lost in the war.

[redcoat]

New Zealand soldiers from a Wellington Regiment eat a meal out of mess tins in the French town of Solesmes. 9th November 1918.