On Dec. 1, 1917, it was officially announced by the British War Office that German East Africa had finally been cleared of the enemy and that the Ger man commander, General Von Lettow Vorbeck, with about 2,000 men under his command, had crossed the Rovuma river into Portuguese East Africa. He was closely followed by the British.
During the last few days of the year the German forces in Mozambique, numbering about 2,000, attacked the Portuguese at Mt. M'Lula, and succeeded in capturing the position. But the fact still remained that by the last day of the year not a German soldier remained fighting on a square foot of German territory in Africa. Thus Germany was deprived of the largest of her colonial possessions, amounting to about 380,000 square miles, almost double the area of Germany.
Political Events.—On January 10 the Allies re-stated their terms of peace, a separate note from Belgium being included. This official statement had been made necesary by Germany's offer of a peace during the previous December.
On February 3, Bernstorff was dis missed and the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany. On March 27, Minister Brand Whitlock and the American Relief Commission with drew from Belgium. On April 2 Pres ident Wilson asked Congress to declare the existence of a state of war with Ger many, which was done four days later, on April 6. On April 20 Turkey severed relations with the United States. On July 4 the resignation of Bethmann Hollweg as German Chancellor was an nounced, his place being taken ten days later by Dr. George Michaelis. In August certain peace proposals by Pope Benedict, dated August 1, were made public, to which all the Allied coun tries made replies during the following month.
On October 26 Brazil declared war against Germany. On November 13 M. Clemenceau succeeded M. Ribot as Pre mier of France. On November 29 there was held in Paris the first plenary ses sion of the Inter-Allied Congress, at which sixteen nations were represented, Col. E. M. House being chairman of the American delegation.
During December 6-9 the pro-Ally government in Portugal was overthrown by a revolution. On December 7 the United States declared war an Austria Hungary.
On December 15, the Inter-Allied Economic Council was organized in Lon don, Great Britain, France and Italy being represented. Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury, Oscar T. Crosby was elected president.
1918.
At the beginning of 1918, the penul timate month of which was to see the war end in a crushing victory for the forces of the Allies, the long intrenched battle-line running through France and Belgium from Switzerland to the sea had been moved but little from what it had become in October, 1914, following the general digging-in on both sides that succeeded the first battle of the Marne and the German retreat to selected posi tions. By that time all the Powers who
were to play any considerable part in the war had already become engaged, those that were to follow during 1918— Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Honduras—took action more as evidence of their solidarity with the United States than on any understand ing that their support would weigh heavily in the balance. By the opening of the year the United States had al ready been nearly nine months in the war and at the end of that time her re sources had not yet shown all the poten tialities that lay in them, though her preparations had been on an extensive scale. As a result prodigious efforts were being put forth by the Germans in the effort to obtain a decision before the great strength of the United States was flung in full measure into the scales. Meanwhile in the east demoralization had already set in in the Russian ranks, and the causes which were to result in the Russian revolution had already brought operations on the front to what amounted to a standstill. The downfall of Russia had its effect likewise on the Balkan front. After the Allied army operating from Saloniki had wrested the Serbian town of Monastir from the Bul garians little progress was further made till the important events in the summer of 1918 had their effect on all fronts. Rumania meanwhile had, as a result of her rashness in fixing her attention too intently on the freeing of Transylvania, opened the Dobrudja to the German forces under General Mackensen, who at the beginning of 1918 showed himself in a position to advance over most of Rumania. Meanwhile in the Near East the initial successes of the Turks had come to an end, and the Turkish armies had come to suffer during 1917 a num ber of serious reverses. Jerusalem had gone the way of Kut-ei-Amara and Bag dad into the hands of the Allies, and by the beginning of 1918 the Turkish line on all fronts had shown signs of crack ing. At the beginning of 1918 the Ital ian fronts stood where they had taken up their positions following the serious reverses when the Austro-German forces drove back the Italians to the Piave river. At the beginning of 1918 all the German colonies had been taken by the Allies with the exception of German East Africa. This last colony was to hold out to the end and was to surrender only at the period when the armistice called for a suspension of hostilities oa all fronts.