To the south it was not a barrier and it was here that Haig attempted his next advanee, going forward 24 and 25 October between the Scheldt and the Sambre and taking 9,000 pris oners in two days. On the second day the French opened a drive on a 40-inile front, De beney between the Oise and the Serre and Man gin on the southeast of the Serre, both advanc ing for clear gains. East of Mangin was Guil laumat who also moved forward. This progress was resumed 27 October and there were gains of as much as five miles, and on the 28th two miles were made. During this period compara tive quiet reigned in Flanders, but it was broken on the 31st when there was an advance on a 15-mile front between Deynze and Avelghem, the Germans fighting hard and stopping when they reached the banlcs of the Scheldt By die end of October the exchange of notes between Germany and the United States had proceeded far enough to show that peace was muninent Each side was straining every nerve to fight its best in these last days, the Allies to force their opponents as near to de feat as possible, and the Germans to maintain their positions and give basis to their claim that they were not beaten to the point of submis sion. How well they carried out this plan is shown by the fact that although the British fought hard during the month of October they took only 49,000 German prisoners, whereas they took 66,300 in September and 57,318 in August. The Germans were conducting a suc cessful retreat in Flanders and offering a stout resistance in other parts of their lines. It seemed that they were in a fair way to protect their communications until winter arrived and caused the Allies to suspend their attacks. Their calculations were defeated by the success of the United States troops in breaking through the German defenses on the Meuse.
General Pershing spent the last half of Oc tober in turning the Germans out of the Ar gonne Forest by flanking them. That done he brought up his heavy guns in front of the strong system of defenses that extended across the open country from Grand Pre to the Meuse. At the end of the month he had made several attacks on it but not in force. On 1 November he opened an overwhelming artillery attack on the system and followed it with an infantry movement that carried him forward four miles. The next day he continued his advance, com pletely freed the German defenses, and rushing forward in motor trucks took Buzancy, the railhead by which the Germans in this sector received their supplies. His quick action so dis concerted them that they fell back in confusion. He followed closely, giving them no time to construct new defenses and on the 6th his troops arrived in that part of Sedan that lies south of the Meuse River. At the same time he threw a portion of his army across the Meuse and was in a position to advance on Metz when it seemed wise.
This sudden break-through completely cut the German line of communications through Metz and Luxemburg. It made it impossible to hold the line of defenses north of the Aisne and in the Champagne, and it was followed by a rapid retreat throughout this area. In fact, it placed the Germans in a precarious position throughout that portion of their lines that did not depend on the railroad through Liege for its supplies. The effect was seen in the evacu
ation of Valenciennes and its occupation on 2 November by the British. On the same day General Gouraud made a notable advance on Pershing's left On the 4th Haig went forward three miles on a 30-mile front, taking 10,000 prisoners and 200 guns; and Debeney on his right won two miles. On the 5th the Germans drew back on a 90-mile front from the Scheldt to Rethel allowing their opponents to advance five miles in some places, but in Flanders they were able to hold their line. Next day the feat was repeated, the British advancing on their whole line an average depth of six miles, and the French making a similar advance north of the Aisne. Each day now added great gains Front, dying away as a life goes out of the human body after a long strife with disease. No more the heavy breathing that sounded through die house, or the coming and going of the attendants, or the hushed expectancy; in its stead the strange quiet of absolute rest. That is the way the first days of peace seemed to a world that had given more than four years to the sole business of watching, serving, pray ing and dying for the war in France.
In testifying in 1919 before a Parliamentary investigating conunittee Field Marshal von Hindenburg is reported to have said that the war was lost through the breaking dpwn of the "home front?) It was a military man's way of looking at the situation. It is true that the de fection at hotne. the longing for peace and the of territory. The Germans dared not wait in their tracks with Sedan in hostile hands but strove hard to get out of danger before they found themselves out of supplies. Thus, Gou raud pursuing them invested Mezieres on the 8th and Debeney took Hirson on the 9th. The British pushing on east of Valenciennes came to Mons 10 November, where the war began for them on that fatal day, 20 August, in 1914.
Next day, 11 November, the armistice went into effect and the fighting was at an end. The long battle line which for four years had roared night and day came to a sudden state of quie tude, and soldiers came out of the trenches and cut capers where an hour before to be seen vras as good as to die. Thus ended the long period of trench warfare on the Western hatred of the people for the system that had brought them to their state of suffering had re acted powerfully on the army. But the ques tion may. arise: How far is the military class justified in testing the endurance of a people in support of war? and had not the war leaders in 1918 demanded all the sacrifices of the people they had a right to demand? The war in Ger many had gone on until every economic factor in the country's life was exhausted. Men had died in vast numbers and there was no prospect that they would gain anything by continuing to die. The nation believed that it was time to end the war. In a proper sense the war ended itself. That is, it fought itself out to its OWT1 finish. Political conditions did not end the war. The political condition that von Hindenburg saddled with the responsibility for the defeat of Germany was itself a result of the war. It was bred in the war. For it the war leaders must assume responsibility.