King Constantine I of Greece was forced by the Allies to abdicate his throne on June 12, 1917, in favor of his second son, Prince Alexander.  The kingdom remained, but not a pro-German one as before.  In order to block the designs of the King and court, who were doing their best to deliver Greece to the Germans, the Entente powers were obliged to make a succession of demands upon the Greek government, including the demobilization of most of the army, the surrender of the fleet, and the withdrawal of Greek troops from Thessaly.  In an effort to enforce their demands the Entente allies landed marines in Athens—­who were fired upon—­and finally declared an embargo on imports into Greece.  Turmoil and intrigue continued, and pressure was brought to bear upon Constantine which compelled him to abdicate the throne.  Venizelos returned as premier and Greece was announced as a belligerent on the side of the Entente.

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

In the Trentino the Italians took the offensive in June and after terrible fighting captured the Austrian positions on Monte Ortigara and Agnello Pass.  These they were forced to relinquish, however, in the face of Austrian counter-attacks.

The Italian campaign on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, continued throughout the summer, was perhaps the most scientific of all the campaigns, involving tremendous technical difficulties, which were solved with amazing ingenuity and skill.  The campaign was largely an engineers’ and an artilleryman’s war, waged in the mountains, much of it in regions of perpetual snow—­highly picturesque and spectacular.  Finally, it was as little destructive as war well can be, because the Italians were fighting in territories which they hoped to hold after the conflict, and they spared the towns and villages to the greatest extent possible.

BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST

The capture of Bagdad by the British in March, 1917, after a brilliant campaign in Mesopotamia, had a deep moral effect in the Orient, particularly in Arabia, where the natives revolted against Turkish rule and established an independent government in Mecca.

In the Holy Land the British in 1917 opened a new era in the history of the East.  Their advance by August 1 had carried them nearly to Gaza.  Their objective was Jerusalem, which the Turks partly evacuated at their approach, after doing untold damage in the holy city and inflicting many atrocities upon the inhabitants.

WAR MISSIONS OF THE ALLIES

In cementing America’s association with the nations which had become her allies, numerous exchanges of missions were arranged.  France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Japan and other entente belligerents sent delegations to the United States as a step toward unification, military, financial and otherwise.  The United States sent missions to Russia and other countries.