At 11:50 o’clock on the morning of September 7 a white flag was hoisted on the church tower and trumpets sounded “cease firing,” but the firing only ceased at 3:08 o’clock that afternoon.  In the meantime the greater part of the garrison succeeded in evacuating the town.  The German forces marched in at 7:08 o’clock that evening.

The retreat of the German forces from the Marne ended the second stage of the great war.

CHAPTER XII

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

Slow Mobilization of Troops—­Invasion of German and Austrian Territory—­Cossacks Lead the Van—­Early Successes in East Prussia—­“On to Berlin”—­Heavy Losses Inflicted on Austrians—­German Troops Rushed to the Defense of the Eastern Territory.

When at 7:30 o’clock on the evening of August 1, 1914, the German Ambassador at St. Petersburg handed the declaration of war to the Russian foreign minister, the immediate reason was that Russia had refused to stop mobilizing her army, as requested by Germany on July 30.

The general mobilization of the Russian army and fleet was proclaimed on July 31 and martial law was proclaimed forthwith in Germany.  The government of the Kaiser had given Russia twenty-four hours in which to reply to its ultimatum of the 30th.  Russia paid no attention to the ultimatum, but M. Goremykin, president of the Council of the Russian Empire, issued a manifesto which read: 

“Russia is determined not to allow Servia to be crushed and will fulfill its duty in regard to that small kingdom, which has already suffered so much at Austria’s hands.”

Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 6.  From that time on the Russian army had two main objectives—­first, the Austrian province of Galicia, and second the eastern frontier of Germany, across which lay the territory known as East Prussia.  And while the early days of the great conflict saw a German host pouring into Belgium, animated by the battle-cry, “On to Paris!” the gathering legions of the Czar headed to the west and crossed the Prussian frontier with hoarse, resounding shouts of “On to Berlin!”

MOBILIZATION WAS SLOW

The mobilization of the Russian army was slow compared with that of Germany, France and Austria, and some weeks elapsed after the declaration of war before Russia was prepared to attack Germany with the full force of which it was capable.  The immense distances to be traversed by troops proceeding to the frontier and by the reserves to their respective depots caused delays that were unavoidable but were minimized by the eagerness of the Russian soldiery to get to the front.  In Russia, as in all the other great countries engaged in the conflict, with the probable exception of Austria, the war was popular and a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and martial ardor swept over the land, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, from St. Petersburg to Siberia.