, still lay two more lines of defense, the Freya
and Kriemhilde, and the Germans were bringing up their best divisions. On
the 4th of October the attack was renewed, in cooeperation with the French
under Gouraud to the west of the forest who pressed forward actively; a
week's more bitter fighting saw the Argonne itself cleared of the enemy.
Hard struggles ensued, particularly around Grandpre, which was taken and
retaken, while on the east of the Meuse the enemy was pushed back. By the
end of the month the Kriemhilde line had been broken and the great railway
artery was threatened. On the 1st of November the third phase of the great
advance began. The desperate efforts of the Germans to hold were never
relaxed, but by the evening of that day the American troops broke through
their last defense and forced rapid retreat. Motor trucks were hurriedly
brought up for the pursuit, and by the fifth the enemy's withdrawal became
general. Two days later Americans held the heights which dominated Sedan,
the strategic goal, and the German line of communications was as good as
severed.

The converging offensive planned by Foch had succeeded. At Cambrai, Le
Catelet, and St. Quentin, the British, with whom were operating four
American divisions (the Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, Thirty-seventh, and
Ninety-first), had broken the Hindenburg line; the French had pushed the
Germans back from Laon, north of the Aisne, and with the British were
driving them into the narrow neck of the bottle; and now the French and
Americans, by their Argonne-Meuse advance had closed the neck. The enemy
faced an appalling disaster. A few weeks, if not days, of continued
fighting meant the most striking military debacle of history. Germany's
allies had fallen from her. Turkey, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary had
sued for peace and agreed to cease fighting on what amounted to terms of
unconditional surrender. At home, the German Government faced revolution;
the Kaiser was about to abdicate and flee. On the 6th of November, the
Berlin Government begged for an immediate armistice and five days later
agreed to the stringent terms which the Allies presented. On the 11th of
November, at eleven in the morning, firing ceased. Until the last second
the battle raged with a useless intensity dictated by stern military
tradition: then perfect quiet on the battle front.

At the present moment we lack the perspective, perhaps, to evaluate
exactly the share of credit which the A