Wilhelm II, then German Emperor,
was present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is a
paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: "The Emperor
had hurried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he was
greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the
heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then,
from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen
attention the progress of the battle for the crossing."

While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans
were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding little resistance they
ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves
firmly in that province. The sweep of the victorious German armies
through Galicia was continued into Poland. On July 19th William the War
Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the
effect that he had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come"
and was on the eve of "delivering a coup on the western front that will
make all Europe tremble."

It would be futile to recount the details of the various German
victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, the
German line ran from Novogard in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence
to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below Warsaw it passed
close to the west of Ivangorad, Lublin, Chelm, and then south to a point
just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German
nutcracker.

On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a
call to prayer for twenty-four hours' continual service of intercession
for victory. In spite of the heat the churches were packed. Hour after
hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs
chanted their litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass
was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd. But the German
victories continued.

On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned. Up to July 29th hope was entertained
in military quarters in London and Paris that the Germans would stand a
siege in their fortresses along the Warsaw salient, but on that date
advices came from Petrograd that in order to save the Russian armies a
retreat must be made, and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned. For some time
before this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many
vigorous counter-attacks had been made against the German a