ium and France and declared war on Germany. Europe was at war. Burning and destroying, the German right wing swung through Belgium, toward the encirclement of the French and their British allies. The French themselves were already on the mover, in accordance with their offensive doctrine.On the four fronts the Central Powers faced the onslaught of their enemies. With the Austrians already retiring before the attacks of the Serbs, on August 18th a new threat developed from a group of armies in Poland and Galicia. At the same time the grand French attack opened in Lorraine. The anxieties of the commander of the French Fifth Army were brushed aside. He was quickly becoming unnerved by what he learned of the enemys movements in front of him. The Russians were still advancing; the capital of East Prussia was threatened. The Germans now also experienced the painful evacuation of refugees. The first and second Russian armies were well on the move. Autumn turned into winter; winter [assed into spring. There was no break in the thunder of the guns. The initiative seized by the Germans at the very outset of the War remained with them. It rewarded them with the only important victories gained in 1915; but it disappointed them too, because once again the victories fell short of being decisive. For the allies the two key factors of 1915 were the emergence of Britains million army and the manner of its handling under the exigencies of the French alliance.The weakness of neutral position was revealed in 1916. The most important neutral in the world was the United States of America, lifted above the conflict not only by distance but also by the fact that her large population was ethnically linked to all the combatants. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson sent his personal emissary, to Europe to test out the ground on which American mediation could bring the War to a conclusion, but there was no ground. On April 2, 1917, the United State...
