History of the World War, Vol. 3 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 145 pages of information about History of the World War, Vol. 3.

History of the World War, Vol. 3 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 145 pages of information about History of the World War, Vol. 3.

A cavalry subaltern gave the following account of life in the trenches:  “Picnicking in the open air, day and night (you never see a roof now), is the only real method of existence.  There are loads of straw to bed down on, and everyone sleeps like a log, in turn, even with shrapnel bursting within fifty yards.”

One English officer described the ravages of modern artillery fire, not only upon all men, animals and buildings within its zone, but upon the very face of nature itself:  “In the trenches crouch lines of men, in brown or gray or blue, coated with mud, unshaven, hollow-eyed with the continual strain.”

“The fighting is now taking place over ground where both sides have for weeks past been excavating in all directions,” said another letter from the front, “until it has become a perfect labyrinth.  A trench runs straight for a considerable distance, then it suddenly forks in three or four directions.  One branch merely leads into a ditch full of water, used in drier weather as a means of communication; another ends abruptly in a cul-de-sac, probably an abandoned sap-head; the third winds on, leading into galleries and passages further forward.

“Sometimes where new ground is broken the spade turns up the long-buried dead, ghastly relics of former fights, and on all sides the surface of the earth is ploughed and furrowed by fragments of shell and bombs and distorted by mines.  Seen from a distance, this apparently confused mass of passages, crossing and recrossing one another, resembles an irregular gridiron.

“The life led by the infantry on both sides at close quarters is a strange, cramped existence, with death always near, either by means of some missile from above or some mine explosion from beneath—­a life which has one dull, monotonous background of mud and water.  Even when there is but little fighting the troops are kept hard at work strengthening the existing defenses, constructing others, and improvising the shelter imperative in such weather.”

CHAPTER II

ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA

For many years before the great war began the great powers of Europe were divided into two great alliances, the Triple Entente, composed of Russia, France and England, and the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Austria and Italy.  When the war began Italy refused to join with Germany and Austria.  Why?  The answer to this question throws a vivid light on the origin of the war.

Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance; she knew the facts, not only what was given to the public, but the inside facts.  According to the terms of the alliance each member was bound to stand by each other only in case of attack.  Italy refused to join with Austria and Germany because they were the aggressors.  The constant assertions of the German statesmen, and of the Kaiser himself, that war had been forced upon them were declared untrue by their associate Italy in the very beginning, and the verdict of Italy was the verdict of the world.  Not much was said in the beginning about Italy’s abstention from war.  The Germans, indeed, sneered a little and hinted that some day Italy would be made to regret her course, but now that the Teuton snake is scotched the importance of Italy’s action has been perceived and appraised at its true value.

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History of the World War, Vol. 3 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.