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PREFACE AND DEDICATION

MERICA, peaceful, isolated and serene in the midst of international intrigues yet not embroiled in them, suddenly found itself in August, 1914, an international power. Although it did not enter the World War until April 6, 1917, its destiny was fixed when Gavrilo Prinzep on June 28, 1914, shot and killed the heir to the throne of AustriaHungary and Sophia Chotek, his morganatic wife. At first the web of circumstance binding the United States to the rest of the world as the consequence of that deed was gossamer fine. With German rapine in Belgium, the sinking of the unarmed Lusitania, the destruction of American lives and property through German plots and the growth of Teutonic militarism into a cloud that shadowed and menaced civilization, the filaments of the web grew into ropes and cables of steel drawing us irresistibly into the world conflict.

This book tells the story of that web and how America acquitted itself therein. Deeds are more eloquent than words. America's entrance tipped the scales against Germany; but the decision came after England and her great colonies, heroic France, Belgium, Italy and Russia had held the Teutonic coalition to a stalemate on the bloodsoaked fields of Europe.

America's share in the triumph of an idealistic civilization over a militaristic autocracy is told in these pages in narrative form. Every deed that is recited, every sacrifice that is set forth finds its warrant in the official records of the Great War. The reading of this book is urged by the head of the American Expeditionary Forces, General Pershing, as a patriotic privilege and duty upon every American. The examples of those glorious dead whose blood hallows the

wheat fields at Château-Thierry, the dark depths of Belleau Wood and the forest of the Argonne must create in generations of Americans yet to be born ideals of democracy and of sacrifice that will continue the United States of America in the van of civilization.

Authoritative documents and maps aid the reader in following the tremendous world changes achieved through America's magnificent adventure in the cause of international liberty. Official photographs illuminate the text and carry the reader into the scenes where men's souls were tried in the fiery crucible of war.

DEDICATION

It is fitting that this history should be dedicated. Of all those who made possible the defeat of Germany, one stands above all others, and to him, I dedicate this book.

To the bravest of the brave; to one who took hardships gallantly; who left peace, prosperity and a happy home, ready to endure vermin, disease and privation on a foreign soil; to the man who bore wounds with a smile and who met death face to face serene and unafraid.

To the Yankee fighting man of every creed and color this history of "America's Part in the World War" is a tribute and a memorial.

CONTENTS.

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French and Americans Strike Hard on the Marne-Aisne Front-Teutons Driven
Back Ten Miles-Germans Retreat to the Vesle-Allies Astride the Ourcq-
Soissons Recaptured-Fismes Evacuated by Enemy

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America Strikes Alone-The Great Salient that Defied the French and British
Wiped Out by the First American Army under Direct Command of General Pershing
-America Accomplishes the Impossible Within a Few Hours-A Victory of Ameri-
can Dash and Efficiency-A Hundred and Fifty Square Miles Wrenched from
German Hands-Foch Congratulates Pershing


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Thirty Thousand Prisoners and Vast Quantities of Munitions Captured by French
and Americans-Germans in Panic Abandon Old Positions-American Divisions
with the British in the Battle for the Possession of Cambrai and St. Quentin-
Germany Begins to Totter when Bulgaria Sues for Peace-The Collapse of the
Enemy in the Balkans

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The Natural Fortresses in German Hands Since 1914 are Stormed by Americans-
A Forest Drenched with Blood-The Terrain Worse Than That of the Battle of the
Wilderness in the Civil War-Dugouts of Permanent Concrete Construction, Lighted
with Electricity, Taken in the Irresistible Onslaught-Sergeant York's Spectacular
Exploit-The Lost Battalion-General Pershing's Story of the Fighting-Forty-
seven Days of Heroism and Sacrifice Rewarded.

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Commission on Training Camp Activities-The American Red Cross-Young
Men's Christian Association-Young Women's Christian Association-Knights of
Columbus-Jewish Welfare Board-Salvation Army-Colored Agencies .

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