NAVAL SITUATION AT THE CLOSE OF 1914.—­As a result of the activities of the Allied fleets, the German navy was shut up in port back of its mine fields, German commerce raiders had, with a few exceptions, been driven from the sea or destroyed, German merchant vessels were laid up in neutral or German ports, and the Allies were free to carry on the transport of troops, munitions, and other supplies with practically no fear of interference from the enemy.  “The British ships, whether men-of-war or merchantmen, are upon the sea, the German in their ports.”

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.—­1.  Locate Metz, Cologne, Liege, Namur, Lille, Verdun; the Meuse, the Marne, the Oise, the Aisne; Lemberg, Warsaw, Koenigsberg. 2.  Look at a large map of Europe and by reference to the scale find out the following distances:  Metz to Paris; Cologne to Paris (via Liege); Verdun to Berlin; Verdun to Strassburg; Liege to Paris; Warsaw to Berlin.  What is the length of the Belgian coast-line; of the Dutch coast-line; of the Franco-German frontier? 3.  Collect pictures and charts illustrative of trench warfare, and of devastated areas of Belgium and France. 4.  Explain fully the influence of geography upon the campaigns of 1914. 5.  Define neutrality; guarantee; treaty. 6.  On an outline map of Europe indicate the countries fighting against Germany at the close of 1914.  Indicate those fighting on the side of Germany at that time.  Indicate the date when each of these countries entered the war.  Draw a line showing the farthest German advance into France, and the farthest Russian advance into Germany and Austria (map, page 124). 7.  What might have been the consequences if the Belgians had not resisted the German invasion? 8.  Describe the German effort to reach the French coast in 1914.  What would have been the probable consequences of its success? 9.  What was the purpose of the English blockade of Germany?  How did this blockade affect the rights of neutrals?  Find out what the United States government did in the matter.

REFERENCES.—­War Cyclopedia (C.P.I.); Study of the Great War (C.P.I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of the War; National School Service, Vol.  I, No. 3 (C.P.I.); New York Times History of the European War.

FOOTNOTES: 

[2] In an interview with the British ambassador, as reported by the ambassador August 4, 1914.

CHAPTER IX

THE WAR IN 1915

THE WESTERN FRONT.—­The deadlock which existed on the western front at the close of 1914 continued with little change during the year 1915.  There were indeed many contests which, on account of the men involved and the casualties, would in previous wars have been considered major engagements; but in spite of great preparations neither side was able to make much impression upon the entrenched line of the enemy.  From the sea to the Swiss border two apparently impregnable lines of trenches faced each other.