Gate Valley Star (Gate, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 28, 1916 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
OFE
MPORTANT EVENTS
UNO OTHER
OF TOE YEAR II
on tne somme rront the battle of j ... ^ STATES
Ancre opened November 13 with IYILaIUU
I M
the Ancre opo
the rapt lire by the British of flye miles
1 of the German positions, together with
1 '"Z'TuVZZn, of f.r-reaching £1^.0 '< 'ZZrZ",7
Itussln 11 during the years of chllwar tut joi
The relations of the United Stntes
Mexico becnme more strained
Great Conflict Rages With Increased Intensity—Roumania, Fif-
teenth Nation to Enter Struggle, Overrun by Central Pow-
ers—Teutonic Allies Make First Peace Proposals-
United States Faces Several Crises.
THE EUROPEAN WAR
Those who are engaged In or are
viewing at close range the titanic con- [
flirt In which all Europe Is Involved
enn with difficulty appreciate the
magnitude of the events which have
transpired during the past 12 months. !
Generations to come, however, looking ,
buck upon tills period with a clearer
vision, will recognize the year 1016
as one of the most tremendous, from
a history-making standpoint, since the
world began.
Europe continued Its blood-letting
throughout the year with even greater
ferocity than marked the first 18 |
months following the breaking of the
Btorni. The great war rounded out j
Its second and entered upon Its third
year, with little promise of an early |
conclusion of peace. During the year
new nations entered into the war, one
of them, Roumania. to become I he
scene of some of the most ferocious j
fighting of the year, one new nation
was created, another tottered to its
fall, while on a dozen fronts millions
of men were fed as human sacrifices
to the Insutlate war monster.
There were seven outstanding
phases of the grent war during the
year 1010. These comprised the grent
offensive of the Russians In Gailcla,
which was Anally checked by the Teu-
tonic allies; the superhuman efforts of
the Germans to capture Verdun,
which were thwarted by the equally
superhuman defense offered by the
French; the long-awaited grand offen-
sive of the British nnd the French on
the western front, resulting In the re-
covery of considerable area In the
Somme region, but uot definitely break-
ing the deadlock In northern France;
the checking of an Austrian offensive
by the Italians and the launching of
a counter-offensive by which the Ital-
ians made big strides In their cam-
paign against Trieste; the conquest of
ltoumunia by the Teutonic allies; the
drive of the Serbs, aided by French,
Italian and British troops. In an effort
to regain their lost kingdom, and the
final abandonment by the entente al-
lies of their disastrous Gallipoll cam-
paign.
The Russians launched their of-
fensive In Gailcla on the first day of
the year. On January 0. the effort of
the entente allies to force the Darda-
nelles win definitely abandoned, and
the forces of the allies entliely evacu-
ated the Gallipoll peninsula.
Verdun Attack Launched.
Early In February, the Hussions, nft-
er a lull In the fighting, resumed their
offensive In Calida and on February 10
they crossed the Dniester nnd threat*
ened Czeruowltz. The Russians, un-
der Grand Duke Nicholas, alsc con-
tinued their drive In the Caucasus ami
on February 14 they captured the
Important town of Erzeruin. Febru-
ary 21, the Germans, led by the crown
prince, launched their nttack on Ver-
dun. and during the next few days
they smashed their way through the
outer defenses until they came within
big-gun range of the French strong-
hold. The French, taken by surprise,
were forced to give ground, but by
the last of the month they had
strengthened their shattered lines anil
had checked the Gertnnn drive. In the
Verdun sector, for the next few
months, occurred some of the most
sanguinary fighting of the entire war.
The Austrluns had considerable suc-
cess on the Italian front during the
month, entering Durazzo on February
2d and driving the Italians before
them. Portugal signalized Its entry
Into the great conflict February '20 by
selztng 34 German steamers Interned
In Portuguese ports. Germany demand-
ed the release of the ships and on
March 0 declared war on Portugal, the
thlrteeuth nation to enter the con-
flict.
The month of March was marked
chiefly by the continued determined at-
tacks of the Germans upon Verdun.
The assault entered Its third stage In
this month with repented attacks on
Vaus, Dounumont and other outlying
towns, most of which were repulsed
with (crrlftc losses. During the month
the Italians finally checked the Aus-
trian drive and launched a big offen-
sive along the entire Austrian front.
The Itusslans continued their victori-
ous drive against the Turks In Ar-
luonii, capturing Bltlis on March It,
■ ml other liuportuut towns later in the
month.
The early days nf April saw a slow-
ing up of tlie Russian offensive In Oa-
Ib ia. The Uertnuus launched a coun-
ter offensive all along the Russian
from nut gained little headway. The
following months saw terrific fighting
along till* trout iuirJl 2.1 ti « Jirttlab
aomitten a defeat nt the hands of the
Turks In Mesopotamia and on April
20, General Townshend and 10,000 Brit-
ish soldiers, who had been besieged by
the Turks at Kut-el-Amnra, were
forced to surrender after repeated ef-
forts to relieve them had failed.
Great Sea Battle Fought
The first great naval battle of the
war was fought by the Gorman nnd
British high sens fleets off the const of
Jutland. Denmark. May 31. The Brit-
ish admit the loss of six large cruisers
and eight destroyers, the Germans one
battleship, one battle cruiser und a
number of light crulscrs nnd destroyers.
More than 0.000 lives were lost. Both
sides claim the victory. Five days later
Great Britain received a staggering
blow when the British cruiser llamp-
slgnlficnnce was made in the
dutua December 2 by Premier Trepoff.
who read a proclamation announcing
officially that an agreement concluded
by Russia. France and Grent Britain
In 1915. and Inter approved by Italy,
"establishes In definite manner the
rights of Russia to the strults nnd
Constantinople."
The fall of the British cabinet early j
In December furnished one of the most ,
sensational features of the year's war
developments. Demands of David
Lloyd-George for the formation of a
smaller war council to obtain greater
efficiency forced the resignation of Pre-
mier Asquith. Lloyd George was made |
premier and selected a new cabinet, j
the prosecution of the war being
placed In the hnnds of five men. In-
cluding the premier.
The first direct overtures for pence
mine on December 13, when Germany,
Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria and Turkey
sent Identical notes to the entente al-
lies through the United States. Spain
and Switzerland, proposing that the
belligerents arrange a conference for
the discussion of peace terms. The
notes were transmitted to the allied
lowed the retirement of President Por-
flrlo Diaz. They approached a crisis
early In the year when, on January 10,
nineteen men. nearly all of them
Americans, were taken from a train
nenr Chihuahua and killed by a band
of bandits.
Conditions becnme still more tense
when, on March 0. several hundred
bandits led by Villa rnlded and burned
rescind their strike order, already It-
sued. if a law were passed providing
for the placing of their wage scales
on an eight-hour basis, went before
congress and asked the passage of
three bills which he deemed neces-
sary to meet the situation. One of
these bills provided that "eight hours
shall be deemed the measure or stand-
ard of a day's work for the purpose of
reckoning the compensation for serv-
ices of all.employees" operating trains
In interstate traffic.
Other bills proposed by the president
provided for the compulsory submis-
sion of rail labor disputes to a board
of mediation to be appointed by the
the'town of Columbus, N. M.. killing ! president before a strike could be de-
shire wus blown up In the North sea governments by President Wilson wltli-
by a mine and Eurl Kitchener. British ( out comment. The peace proposals
secretary of war, and his entire stalf, , were received coldly. Premier Brland,
were lost. During the early part of , jn the French house of deputies, Is-
June the Russians broadened their of
fensive In Gailcla ami along the lines
further north and on June 7 they an-
nounced the recapture of the fortress
of Lutsk In Volliyniu and the crossing
of the Ikwa and Styr rivers at several
points.
On July 1. the British nnd French
launched their grent drive on the west
front. A concerted attack was made
on a 2.Vtnlle front north and south of
the Somme river. July 11. after ten
days and nights of continuous fight-
ing, the British claimed the capture
of the whole of the enemy's first lines
of defense on a front of 14.000 ynrds.
During the remainder of the month the
British nnd French continued their ad-
vnnce, the British occupying the eutire
village of Pozieres July 26 and the
French advancing close to Peronue, an
Important railroad center.
During the month of August the
Russians, after terrific fighting, pierced
the Teuton lines on the Lemberg and
Kovel fronts nnd advanced in the Car-
pathians. The Italians continued their
drive on Trieste. August 0, after days
of terrific fighting, they captured Go-
ritz nnd pushed forward, pursuing the
retreuting Austlians.
Roumania Enters War.
Roumnniu, after months of wavering,
entered the war on the side of the en-
tente allies with a declaration of war
on Anstrla-IIungnry. Roumania was
the fifteenth nation to enter the war.
On the same day Italy declared war on
Germany and the following day Ger-
many declared war on Roumania. With
the declaration of war fighting began
between the Roumanians and Aus-
trlans on the Transyivanlan frontier.
August 30. the Roumanlnns occupied
Kronstndt and Ilermnnnstadt, the two [
chief cities of Transylvania. Field I
Marshal von Itlndenburg, whose suc-
cesses had made hill) the Idol nf the
German people, succeeded General von
Falkenhayn as chief of the general
staff of the German nnny August 20.
. During the month of September, the I
Roumanians, co-operating with the
Russians, advanced In northern Tran-
sylvania and Bukowlna, but suffered
severe reverses nt the hnnds of the
Bulgarians nnd Austrluns in Dobrudja.
The allied troops made decided gains
In the Somme sector, occupying
Conibles and other Important towns '
on September 20.
Early In October the tide turned
ngainst the Roumnnlans ami Russians
In Transylvania and the latter were
forced to retire before a strong Austro-
German force under command of Gen-
eral von Falkenhayn. On October 11,
the Teutons began an Invasion of Rou-
mania. On the Verdun front, the
French smashed tl*> German lines Oc-
tober 24. retaking Dounumont fort und
village.
The struggle between the Roumanian
and Russian forces on the one side and
the Teuton and Bulgarian armies on
the other held the center of nttention
In November. Taking advantage of
the plight in which the Roumnnlans
on the Transyivanlan front found
themselves Von Mackensen held his
lines In Dobrudja and. attacking the
Danube line, forced the river harrier
at several points. Effecting a Juncture
of their forces, the Teuton command-
ers drove the Itoumanlnns buck upon
Bucharest. The Roumnnlans retreat-
ed rapidly toward the capital, burning
villages and all stores of grain nnd
munitions in the district through which
they passed. November 28, the seat
of the Roumanian government was
moved from Bucharest to Jassy, near
the Russian frontier. The Roumanlnns
evacuated Bucharest December 0 In or-
der to saw their army.
The Serbians, tided by French and
Italian troops, mnde « stnrt toward
winning buck their country during No-
vember. Their big drive resulted In
tits cuDtura of MuuusUr on Nov«n>u«r
nine American civilians and eight Uni-
ted States soldiers. March 10. Presi-
dent Wilson ordered 5.000 United
States troops into Mexico to catch
Villa.
General Carranza. head of the de
facto government In Mexico, began
soon to display antagonism toward the
American expedition and on March 17
he Issued orders forbidding American
troops from entering Mexican towns,
lie also refused to grant permission
for the American forces to use the
Mexican railroads for the transporta-
tion of supplies.
April 12. a detachment of United
States troops was attacked by Carran-
za troops nnd citizens of Parral. Two
Americans nnd 40 Mexicans were kHI-
ed in the encounter. The following day
Carranza demanded the withdrawal of
the American troops from Mexico, but
clared and for government operation of
the railways in case of military neces-
sity.
The hill embodying the provision for
the eight-hour basis for wages, known
as the Adamson bill, was rushed
through the house September 1 and
was passed by the senate September 2.
The order for a strike which was to
have gone Into effect September 4 was
then rescinded. The session of con-
gress ended shortly afterwards and
consideration of the other measures
proposed by the president was post-
poned until the next session.
Strikes were In progress In a num-
ber of Industries during the early part
of the year and some were marked by
scenes of violence, April 24, striking
employees of the Westinghouse com-
pany, led by a masked woman, rioted
In East Pittsburgh. Fatal strike riots
his demand was ignored. The pursuit | occurred at the Carnegie Sieel works
... . • i It. If.. .. O A !.(/• 1r a
, sued a warning against a premature
pence, and the Russian duma. accord-
ing to announcement made December
10. passed a resolution favoring n re-
fusal on the part of the allied govern-
ments to enter Into any peace nego-
tiations whatever under present con-
ditions.
As If In answer to the peace pro-
posals. the French In the Verdun sec-
tor delivered a crushing attack on the
German forces December 15, winning
12 square miles of territory north of
Verdun nnd driving the Germans bnclc
close to the line from which they stnrt-
ed their great offensive against Ver-
dun in February. General NIvelle,
who directed this attack, hnd been a
few days before placed In supreme
command of the French armies in the
west, succeeding General Joffre. who
was mnde commnnder In chief of the
French armies, but with little more
than advisory powers.
WAR AND THE UNITED STATES
Diplomatic difficulties growing out
of the war In Europe continued to
confront the United States govern-
ment throughout the past year. The
submarine controversy with Germany,
which had been more or less acute
since the sinking of the Lusltanin, was
Intensified March 2. when the British
Channel steamer Sussex nnd the Brit-
ish steamer Englishman, both of which
carried Americans, were torpedoed
anil sunk without warning. This oc-
curred about two weeks after congress,
nt the urging of the president, had re-
fused to adopt a resolution warning
Americans to remain off armed mer-
chant ships of the belligerents. The
german government nt first denied any
responsibility for the attack on the
Sussex, nnd on April IS President Wil-
son ndtlressed a note which amounted
practically to an ultimatum to the Ger-
man government. In this note the pres-
ident declared that unless Germany
• Immediately declared and effected an
abandonment of Its methods of sub-
marine warfare against passenger and
freight-carrying vessels, the United
States could "have no choice but to
sever diplomatic relations with the
German empire altogether." Ger-
many's reply to this note, received in
Washington May 5, promised compll
ance In the future with the laws of
warfare In Its submarine operations.
A supplementary note from Berlin, re-
ceived May 10. admitted that the Sus-
J sex was torpedoed, expressed regret.
I offered Indemnity nnd declared that
the submarine commnnder hnd been
punished. No further serious contro
versy occurred with Germany until
after the sinking of the Marina, with
Americans aboard, October 28. It was
j barged that the vessel was torpedoed
without warning. After an Investiga-
tion Germany assumed responsibility
for the sinking of the boat, declaring
that the captain of the submarine
thought the Murlua an armed trans-
port.
An Interchnnge of notes between the
United Stntes nnd the entente govern-
ments. regarding the seizure nnd exam-
ination of American malls, was produc-
tive of little result. In several com-
munications Great Britain and France
Insisted upon their rights to examine
neutral malls, but on October 12 they
made some slight concessions, promis-
ing to Improve the mall service be-
tween America nnd neutral countries.
A blacklist against American firms
and -Individuals, charged with dealing
with Germany, which was published
b.v Great Brltnln July 18. nnd by
France August 0. brought emphatic
protests from the United States gov-
ernment. but ou. November 14 Great
Britain formally rejected the American
protests, declaring that tha blacklist
wai not alutd at noutrals.
of Villa came to a standstill, however,
because of the hostility of Carranza.
May 31. General Carranza again de-
manded the withdrawal of the United
Slates troops from Mexico on peril of
"recourse to arms," and followed this
up on June 16 with a definite threat of i
attack unless the troops were with- j
drawn northward. The following day
re-enforcements were rushed to the
United Stntes troops in Mexico nnd
within a short time the expeditionary j
force aggregated about 12,000 men. |
June 18. the war department ordered I
all the state mllltla mobilized and with- j
in the next two weeks SO,000 of the
state soldiers had been rushed to the
border.
A detachment of American troops
was attucked by Carranza troops at |
Carrizal, June 21, and twelve Amerl- |
cans were killed and 17 captured.
A short time later Carranza aban-
doned his hostile attitude and In a
conciliatory note to President Wilson ;
suggested the appointment of a Joint
commission to settle the dispute be-
tween the two countries. July 28, j
President Wilson accepted this pro-
posal.
President Wilson named Secretary
of the Interior Lane, Judge George
Gray and Dr. J. R. Mott as members of
the American commission on August
22 and on September 6, the Joint com-
mission began Its sessions at New Lou-
don, Conn. The sessions continued un-
til November 24. when a protocol was
signed providing for the withdrawal
of the United States troops from Mex-
ico In 40 days, conditional upon the
Carranza government showing within
that time thnf it could protect the bor-
der and prevent raids by bandits upon
Ainericno territory.
Two days before the signing of this
protocol. Villa, at the hend of a strong
force, attneked Chihuahua City nnd af-
ter a battle lasting several days he
captured thnt city.
Carranza forces regained control of
Chihuahua City December 3 and Villa's
forces fled to the mountnlns west of
that city, where they were later re-
ported to be gathering new recruits
in preparation for more extensive
operations.
INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC
in Braildock. Pn.. May 2. A big strike
was started by the Chicago garment
workers May 0. Express drivers la
Chicago struck May 16 and consider-
able violence marked the strike, ex-
press wagons being operated under po-
lice protection. July 13. state troops
were sent to La Salle, III., to quell
riots of cement works strikers.
A strike of street railway men
stopped all surface cars In the bor-
oughs of Manhattan. Bronx and Rich-
mond. New York, August 5. but the
strike ended two days later tempo-
rarily. September 6, a strike of all
men on the subway, elevated and sur-
face lines In New York was called.
Serious riots marked the street car
strike In New York, particularly on
October 5.
November 5. a large party of I. W.
W. members from Seattle engaged In
a battle with a sheriff's posse at Ever-
ett. Wash. Seven men were killed dur-
ing the fighting.
November 22, Judge Hook of the
United States district court at Kansas
j City. Mo., held the Adamson eight hour
law unconstitutional and an agreement
was reached between the representa-
tives of the government and of the rail-
roads for an appeal to the United
States Supreme court In an effort to
obtain a final decision on the validity
{ of the law as soon as possible.
| The year was one of great prosperity
In all manufacturing and agricultural
! Industries. Foreign trade of the Uni-
ted States, ns shown by reports of the
department of commerce, reached a
total of $7,463,000,000 in the year end-
, Ing November 1. an Increase of $1,500.-
000,000 over 1015, and $2,500,000.000
over 1914.
The total wheat yield of the United
Stntes in 1016 wns only 547,000.000
bushels, as compared with 1.011.000.000
bushels In 1015 and at the same time
there was almost a proportionate fall-
ing off In all other grain crops. While
the crops decreased enormously in
quantity, they nlso Incrensed enor-
mously in price. The value of 10 staple
crops, as based on the November 1 es-
timate of the department of agricul-
ture. was $7,090,338,031, as compared
with the estimated value ou November
1. 1015, of the same crops of that yeur
of $5,083,306,817. The aggregate value
of all farm products, including live
stock, was estimated at $12,000,000,000.
The outstanding feature of the yenr
In the Industrial world was the threat-
ened strike of the 400,000 members of
the four grent railway brotherhoods,
which was prevented only by the pns-
snge by congress of the Adamson bill.
The demands of the four brother-
hoods. representing the engineers, fire-
men, conductors nnd trainmen, were
mnde upon the railroads early In the
year nnd nfter fruitless conferences
between the representntlves of the
brotherhoods and the committee of
general mnnngers representing prac-
tically every railroad In the United
States, a strike vote wns tnken nmong
the members of the brotherhoods. On
July 26 It wns announced that the
vote had been overwhelmingly In fnvor
of a strike unless the demands of the
men were granted by the railroads.
The federal board of mediation Im-
mediately offered Its services In an ef-
fort to prevent a strike but on August
12 the board announced that It had
been unable to bring about an agree
POLITICS
OTHER LANDS
The Sinn Fein revolt In Ireland, tha
establishment of n revolutionary gov-
ernment In Greece, the proclamation
of Poland as an Independent nntiou by
Its Teutonic conquerors and the res-
toration of the republic In China, con-
stituted the most Importnnt develop-
ments of a political nature In coun-
tries outside of the United States In
1916.
An official mandate. Issued March
22, announced the abandonment of the
Chinese monarchy and the restoration
of the republic which hnd been dis-
placed by the monarchy during the Ut-
ter part of 1915. Yuan Shi Kai an-
nounced his rejection of the einjieror-
ship nnd resumed the presidency of
the republic. June 6, Yuan Shi Kal
died suddenly .and Yuan Ll llung be-
nnip nresldent.
liie Sinn rein renelllon In Ireland
inent and on the following dny Presl- j was precipitated on April 18, when Sir
dent Wilson summoned the general Roger Casement, former consular offi-
inanngers' committee and the brother-
hoods' representatives to the White
House for a conference. This c« nf« r-
ence produced no result, the railroad
manngers offering to submit the whole
controversy to arbitration hut the
brotherhood representatives refusing
to ngree to arbitration of their eight-
hour doy demands. August 29. Presi-
dent Wilson, with a promise from the
• hrotJjurhnort iti t
cer of the United Kingdom, was cap-
tured while attempting to land In Ire-
land from tiermuny and a German
ship loaded with arms to be used In
an Irish uprising was sunk while at-
tempting to land the arms. April 24.
the Sinn Fein rebels seized parts of
Dublin and serious fighting In the
streets followed. The revolt spread,
nnd on April 27 martial law was
clarvd ev«r rh« satire Island.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Cox, Dallas I. Gate Valley Star (Gate, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 28, 1916, newspaper, December 28, 1916; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc168062/m1/2/: accessed April 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.