The trouble with the Russians is that they are not educated; the result of this is that they readily believe the lies of spies and tricksters, that would never deceive an educated man.

Questions for Review

1.  Was the Russian government as harsh as that of Germany? 2.  Why was Russia a source of weakness to the Entente? 3.  Why was Rasputin killed? 4.  Why did the Czars prefer the Cossacks? 5.  What classes fought after the Czar’s downfall? 6.  How did the central powers take advantage of Russia’s troubles? 7.  How did the peace with the Bolsheviki help Germany? 8.  Explain where the Czecho-Slovak army came from.

CHAPTER XXIII

  The United States at War—­Why?

Germany throws to the winds all rules of civilized war.—­Dr. Zimmermann’s famous note.—­Congress declares war.—­Other nations follow our example.—­The plight of Holland, Denmark, and Norway.—­German arguments for submarine warfare shown to be groundless.—­German agents blow up American factories.—­German threats against the United States.—­Germany and the Monroe Doctrine.—­A government whose deeds its people cannot question.—­Why American troops were sent to Europe.—­Why the war lords wanted peace in January, 1918.

In the meantime, two months had elapsed from the time when the German ambassador, Count Von Bernstorff, had been sent home by the United States.  The Germans, true to their word, had begun their campaign of attacking and sinking without warning ships of all kinds in the waters surrounding Great Britain and France.  Even the hospital ships, marked plainly with the red cross, and boats carrying food to the starving people of Belgium, were torpedoed without mercy.  The curious state of public feeling in Germany is well illustrated by an incident which happened at this time.  It so happened that an English hospital ship, crossing the channel, was laden with about as many German wounded as British.  These men had been left helpless on the field of battle after the Germans had retreated, and had been picked up and cared for by the British, along with their own troops.  A German submarine with its deadly torpedo sent this vessel to the bottom.  The wounded men, German and British alike, sank without the slightest chance for their lives.  A burst of indignation came from all over Germany against the “unspeakable brutality” of the British who dared to expose German wounded men to the danger of travel on the open sea!  The British were warned that if this happened again the Germans would make reprisals upon British prisoners in their hands.

[Illustration:  Flight from a Torpedoed Ocean Liner]