Nothing Less Than War: A New History of America’s Entry into World War I

8. To End a Conflict: October 1916– January 1917

8 To End a Conflict October 1916–January 1917 After two years of fighting on the various fronts, the belligerents were merely continuing their mutual slaughter. By September 1916, France and Germany had experienced 1 million casualties at Verdun; by November Britain had lost 400,000 men in the Somme offensive. If, that summer, Russian offensives cost the Central Powers 600,000 men, the czarist regime lost 1 million of its own. In battles on the Isonzo River that lasted most of the year, Italy repulsed the Austrians but sustained losses of 150,000 by early summer. Though the Germans occupied most of Belgium and parts of northern France, the Central Powers felt far from assured of victory. In August Wilhelm II so feared Austrian defeat that he experienced a nervous breakdown. By the time Austrian emperor Francis Joseph died in November, he had lost hope of military triumph, simply expressing the wish that his empire could “last out the winter.” His grandnephew Charles I, who inherited the throne, resented his nation’s dependence on Germany and opposed increased submarine warfare. Within a year he surreptitiously sought peace with the Allies. Already Baron Stephan Burián, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, desired negotiation. On the home front, Germany suffered food shortages, leading to strikes and food riots. As early as June 1915, bread had been rationed; in May 1916 the government parceled out meat. Potatoes, sugar, and fats remained scarce. The fall harvest proved dismal. Neutral nations supplied meat, butter, and cheese, but these items went to troops or munitions workers, not the civilian population. Many Germans ate turnips, normally used as cattle fodder. By November authorities conceded that much undernourishment existed. 217 218 Nothing Less Than War Frustrated by failure to achieve a breakthrough on the western front and facing a crisis in domestic morale, Germany increasingly placed its hopes on U-boat warfare. By sinking massive tonnage of merchant shipping and deterring neutrals from carrying goods to British ports, it sought to threaten Britain’s very existence. Whereas on April 1, 1916, the Reich possessed just thirty-six submarines, by July 1 the number rose to fifty-four and by December 20 to eighty-five. Despite the limitations specified in the Sussex pledge, U-boat warfare proved most successful. Between October 1916 and January 1917, German vessels sank an average of 350,000 tons a month. On August 31, meeting at Pless Castle, the Admiralty endorsed unrestricted submarine warfare, arguing that the measure would defeat Britain by the end of the year. Otherwise, said Admiral Holtzendorff, “time is working against us.” Foreign Secretary Jagow retorted: “Germany will in such case be looked upon as a mad dog against whom the hand of every man will be raised.” On August 27 Rumania had joined the Allies, its sole motive being territorial gain. Germany’s leadership agreed to postpone any maritime decision until the Balkan nation was defeated. Late in September Admiral Georg A. von Müller, naval adviser to the emperor, warned that such U-boat combat would simply lead to “prolongation of the war and our ultimate exhaustion.” On October 6, Holtzendorff ordered a new campaign against merchant shipping, although he stressed that submarines must observe the rules of cruiser warfare scrupulously.1 A minor crisis arose on October 7, when a new long-range submarine, U-53, arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, having left Heligoland, an island off Germany’s northwest coast, close to three weeks earlier. The submarine remained in port just six hours, for Commander Hans Rose possessed orders to attack Allied warships hugging the American coast. The next day Rose sailed fifty miles off Nantucket, where he sank several British steamers and two others, one Norwegian and one Dutch. Included was the Red Cross liner Stephano, a Canadian ship en route from Halifax to New York and carrying American passengers returning from summer vacations. A U.S. destroyer flotilla, lying nearby, helped pick up crews and passengers. All lives were saved. On the next day, Rose sank three more ships and then headed home. Americans betrayed genuine apprehension, manifest in a stock market panic that liquidated $500 million in fifteen minutes. Marine insurance rates jumped 500 percent as the press expressed anxiety. In public, Wilson remained calm, merely asserting that he would hold Germany to its pledges. Privately, he told Ambassador Bernstorff that he could not control public To End a Conflict...