[Illustration:  Notre Dame of Rheims ruined by German shells.

Soldiers and prisoners of Germany.  Belgium and France.  First aid to the wounded

German lookouts, wearing the distinctive spiked German helmet, are stationed in a treetop overlooking the battle front.  The branches aid in screening them]

[Illustration:  A body of German prisoners on their way to Paris under escort of French cuirassiers.  The country people line the roadway to see them pass]

[Illustration:  Belgian soldiers—­the famous Louvain Lancers, accompanied by an aviation corps—­coming up to take positions near the coast in northern France]

[Illustration:  Two cuirassiers—­French cavalrymen who wear a cuirass or breastplate—­have dismounted to give aid to a wounded comrade]

[Illustration:  An injured British aviator cared for by a Red Cross doctor.  Airmen who have been wounded often bring their machines to a safe landing]

[Illustration:  The choir and nave of Notre Dame, Rheims, before the bombardment which destroyed its matchless carvings and stained-glass windows]

[Illustration:  The ruins of Notre Dame, the wonderful cathedral at Rheims, which was shelled by the Germans.  The statuary and carvings remaining about the entrances are protected by timbers]

[Illustration:  French sailors who have landed on the southwestern coast of Belgium making a jovial feast of their dinner ashore]

On January 21, 1915, the Germans recaptured the Le Pretre woods near St. Mihiel, and next day the belligerents fought a fierce engagement in the Vosges without advantage to either side.  Prince Eitel, the second son of the Kaiser, commanded an attack upon Thann in Alsace on January 25, 1915, but was repulsed by the French defenders.

On January 28, 1915, the Germans made some gains in the Vosges and in Upper Alsace, but in their attempt to cross the River Aisne on the 29th they were unsuccessful.

January 30, 1915, brought some successes to the Germans in the Argonne forest, where throughout the month the most savage fighting was going on in thick underbrush and from tree tops.

PART II—­NAVAL OPERATIONS

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CHAPTER XXXII

STRENGTH OF THE RIVAL NAVIES

Sea fights, sea raids, and the hourly expectation of a great naval battle—­a struggle for the control of the seas between modern armadas—­held the attention of the world during the first six months of the Great War.  These, with the adventures of the Emden in the waters of the Far East, the first naval fight off Helgoland, the fight off the western coast of South America, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the exploits of the submarines—­held the world in constant expectancy and threatened to involve neutral nations, thus causing a collapse of world trade and dragging all the peoples of the earth into the maelstrom of war.