WORLD WAR 444 WORLD WAR tecting the landing of Ge --man forces on Oesel and Dago Island, and later on Moon Island. A Russian destroyer was sunk, and a few days later the Russian battleship "Slava" was reported to have been destroyed. Germany's African Colonies. — In her East African colonies Germany had made thorough preparations to resist in- vasion. Though there were only three white regiments, native contingents had been well trained and well armed. As a result the campaign of conquest which the Allies had begun late in 1916 had made at first little progress. On July 30, 1917, it was announced that sharp fighting had been taking place and as a consequence the Germans had been driven back in the Lugungu river district, and at Ntulira, fifty-five miles S. of Mahenge, the central point between Lake Nyasa and the sea. Slowly the Germans were forced into a retreat toward the Portuguese frontier. The for- ward movement of the British forces, in the Lindi area, began on Aug. 2, 1917, along the road leading S. W. to- ward Nyangao and Massassi. Here the fighting was especially heavy and the losses on both sides comparatively nu- merous. In Portuguese Nyasaland all but one of the German detachments which had established themselves in the Lujenda and on the shores of Lake Nyasa had now been driven N. on the Rovuma river by a British column advancing from the S. By the beginning of September, 1917, a convergent advance of British and Belgian troops from the direction of Iringa, 160 miles N. E. of Lake Nysasa, and of a Belgian force from Kilossa, on the Central railway, 150 miles W. of Dar-es-Salaam, had cleared the country between the Ruaha and Kilom- bera rivers, a distance of fifty miles, and driven all the German detachments in the N. area to the S. of the Ulanga. In the S. area, Tunduru, forty-five miles N. of the Portuguese frontier, was oc- cupied by the British an August 23, as the result of an advance through Portu- guese territory from Fort Johnson, at the S, end of Lake Nyasa. The campaign continued energetically until November, the fighting continuing vigorously throughout that month. Dur- ing November the European Germans captured or killed numbered 981, while nearly 2,000 native German soldiers had been killed or captured during the same period. On Dee. 1, 1917, it was officially announced by the British War Office that German East Africa had finally been cleared of the enemy and that the Ger- man commander. General Von Lettow- Vorbeck, with about 2,000 men under his command, had crossed the Rovuma river into Portuguese East Africa. He was closely followed by the British. During the last few days of the year the German forces in Mozambique, numbering about 2,000, attacked the Portuguese at Mt. M'Lula, and succeeded in capturing the position. But the fact still remained that by the last day of the year not a German soldier remained fighting on a square foot of German territory in Africa. Thus Germany was deprived of the largest of her colonial possessions, amounting to about 380,000 square miles, almost double the area of Germany. Political Events. — On January 10 the Allies re-stated their terms of peace, a separate note from Belgium being included. This official statement had been made necesary by Germany's offer of a peace during the previous December. On February 3, Bernstorff was dis- missed and the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany. On March 27, Minister Brand Whitlock and the American Relief Commission with- drew from Belgium. On April 2 Pres- ident Wilson asked Congress to declare the existence of a state of war with Ger- many, which was done four days later, on April 6. On April 20 Turkey severed relations with the United States. On July 4 the resignation of Bethmann- Hollweg as German Chancellor was an- nounced, his place being taken ten days later by Dr. George Michaelis. In August certain peace proposals by Pope Benedict, dated August 1, were made public, to which all the Allied coun- tries made replies during the following month. On October 26 Brazil declared war against Germany. On November 13 M. Clemenceau succeeded M. Ribot as Pre- mier of France. On November 29 there was held in Paris the first plenary ses- sion of the Inter-Allied Congress, at which sixteen nations were represented, Col. E. M. House being chairman of the American delegation. During December 6-9 the pro-Ally government in Portugal was overthrown by a revolution. On December 7 the United States declared war an Austria- Hungary. On December 15, the Inter-Allied Economic Council was organized in Lon- don, Great Britain, France and Italy being represented. Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury, Oscar T. Crosby was elected president.
