worn out and bled white has passed the stage where it
can come to the aid of others. In her death agony, she has no more
than her own strength to last her during the last hours. France has
been able to come to the aid of the other Allies. She has lent them a
strong helping hand, she has been able to save them from total
extinction. French troops have fought and are still fighting on all
the battle fronts; in Italy, the Balkans, Palestine and Central
Africa. It is almost to France alone and to France especially that the
salvage of the remnant of the Serbian Army has been due.
We remember what happened in September, 1915. At the time when the
dual offensive was attempted in Artois and in Champagne, the German
Armies invaded Poland, Volhynia, Lithuania and Courland, delivered
Austrian Galicia and commenced to submerge Serbia beneath their
innumerable legions. Invaded by three armies, the German, Austrian
and Bulgarian, all of them amply supplied with heavy artillery and
asphixiating gas, poor little Serbia was doomed beforehand. But,
tenacious to the end, her heroic defenders preferred to leave their
country rather than submit to a hated yoke. Step by step the Serbians,
always facing the enemy, retreated to the sea. It was a terrible
tragedy. Their retreat will remain a matter of legend, like that of
the Ten Thousand under Xenophon. As they retreated, the Serbians
called, in their despair, for help.
Who went to Serbia's aid? It was not Russia, whose armies were quite
worn out. It was not England, who feared an attack on Egypt and who
was still fighting at the Dardanelles. It was not Italy, whose special
efforts were directed towards preventing the junction of Austria with
Greece, and who was satisfied with establishing herself at Valona and
thus driving a wedge between her two rivals on the Adriatic coast.
But France, France who is represented as worn out and bled white,
heard Serbia's call for help and decided to respond to it.
Supplies were first landed at San Giovanni di Medua and Antivari in
the smaller French boats. But it was soon evident that these supplies
would be insufficient and that the Serbs could not maintain their
positions in the Adriatic ports even with French help from the sea.
The complete evacuation of an entire army, piece by piece, had to be
undertaken. The transporting of entire Serbia beyond the seas, to
another country, had to be considered. Where were they to go? Where
were the thousands o
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