Current History: A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times, May 1918: Vol. VIII, Part I, No. 2

In Short

This volume serves as a comprehensive monthly survey of World War I, capturing the state of the conflict as it stood in May 1918. It compiles military reports from the Western Front, diplomatic memoranda regarding the war’s origins, and accounts of the American home front’s mobilization. By presenting a mosaic of official dispatches, personal testimonies, and political commentary, it preserves the immediate, often frantic climate of the period. It remains a significant historical artifact, documenting the transition from a war of attrition to one of global industrial scale, reflecting the urgency and the immense human cost felt by the nations involved.

The Story

The narrative arc of this chronicle follows the intense, chaotic push of the German Spring Offensive, a massive military gamble intended to secure a decisive victory before American resources could fully tip the scales. As the German forces break through the British lines in the Battle of Picardy, the text describes the ensuing retreat and the desperate efforts to maintain a cohesive defense. The reader is taken through the "four epic weeks of carnage," tracking the loss of territory and the immense toll in human life, as well as the heroic, often isolated stands of individual units—from Portuguese soldiers holding the line to the logistical miracles performed by the American Red Cross in Italy.

The focus then shifts to the political and diplomatic theater, where the collapse of the Russian front and the subsequent German domination of Eastern territories create a new, perilous reality for the Allies. Prominent figures like David Lloyd George address the crisis of manpower, outlining the necessity of a "strict comb-out" of industries to feed the insatiable appetite of the front. Parallel to these operational concerns, the book explores the moral and ideological justifications for the war. It details the internal debates within Germany, featuring the damning memorandums of Prince Lichnowsky and the critiques of figures like Wilhelm Mühlon, who argue that the German leadership’s militaristic path has disqualified it from any claim to legitimate diplomacy.

As the months progress, the scope expands to include the naval war, the technological evolution of aerial combat, and the grim reality of a war that consumes millions of horses and countless tons of steel. The story concludes not with a resolution, but with a stark assessment of the "crucial hour" for American and Allied democracy. The final pages analyze the Battle of Jutland and the ongoing U-boat blockade, reinforcing the argument that while the war is a "battle of arrest" and attrition, the ultimate goal—the destruction of militarism—remains non-negotiable. The text leaves the reader in the heart of the conflict, with the outcome still uncertain, emphasizing that victory requires not just military success, but a unified spirit to endure the "bloody and visible triumph of arms."

How It Unfolds

The German onslaught The book opens with a grim tactical assessment of the March 1918 offensive, detailing how concentrated "massed attacks" broke the British Fifth Army. It captures the confusion of the retreat and the loss of critical positions, highlighting the sheer scale of the German advance toward Amiens.

The struggle for stability The narrative moves to the defensive efforts of the Allies, where French and British forces struggle to stem the tide. It describes the "bloody valley of the Lys" and the desperate, often improvised bravery of individual soldiers and gunners.

The shift in global power A significant beat addresses the aftermath of the Brest-Litovsk treaty, examining how Germany’s new grip on Russian territory alters the map. It follows Leon Trotzky’s efforts to reorganize a new, disciplined Red Army in the face of encirclement.

The American mobilization The focus turns to the United States, detailing the machinery of the selective draft and the rapid construction of training camps. It catalogues the logistics of supply, from locomotives to surgical dressings, showing the sheer industrial weight being applied to the war.

The question of guilt The final section provides an autopsy of the war’s origins, using primary documents to dismantle the German narrative of innocence. It presents a series of accusations and defenses that place the responsibility for the conflict squarely on the shoulders of the Central Powers.

The People

The figures appearing in these pages are defined by their burden of command and the weight of their decisions. General Gough and General Byng represent the fractured British leadership, forced to navigate the disastrous retreat of the Fifth Army while trying to maintain the integrity of the Allied line. David Lloyd George emerges as a central political voice, pragmatic and unrelenting, as he lobbies Parliament to pull more men from the mines and civil service to reinforce the front.

In the East, Leon Trotzky is depicted as a pragmatic, if conflicted, architect of a new Russian military, attempting to build a force from the remnants of a revolutionary state. Meanwhile, the German perspective is refracted through Prince Lichnowsky and Herr Mühlon, two figures who, from positions of relative proximity to the German leadership, offer sharp, disillusioned critiques of the Kaiser’s government. They view the war as a catastrophic blunder, standing in stark contrast to the defiance of President Wilson, whose words anchor the American moral commitment to the fight. Premier Clemenceau also makes an appearance as a cold, strategic operator, refusing to be drawn into the web of "peace initiatives" that he believes are merely ruses to facilitate German aggression. These men are not portrayed as heroes or villains in a traditional sense, but as figures trapped within the escalating logic of total war, each attempting to steer their nation through an existential catastrophe.

In Its Own Voice

"In this war the German 'massed attacks' have not been so much a matter of formation as of delivering streams of troops at the chosen point of contact to overwhelm their opponents with superior numbers at that point."

The military observer provides this assessment regarding the tactical shifts that characterized the initial success of the German Spring Offensive in 1918.

"The policies of Frederick the Great, which would make of all human souls mere cogs in a vast military machine, and the policies of Washington, which would make government the expression and the instrument of popular power, are contending for supremacy on the battlefield of Europe."

Senator J. Hamilton Lewis frames the global conflict as an irreconcilable ideological clash between German militarism and democratic self-determination.

What It's Really About

At its core, this chronicle is a study of the conflict between "might and right." It grapples with the question of whether a society can survive a war of such industrial magnitude without sacrificing its own democratic principles. The argument is that the war is an "inevitable" struggle against an expansionist, militaristic system that views individual souls merely as cogs in a machine. Beneath the reports of troop movements and tonnage of iron production lies the recurring theme of the "crucial hour"—the belief that the war is a moral necessity, a fight against "brute force" that must be settled decisively, regardless of the cost in treasure or blood. It is an exploration of the fragility of civilization when faced with the cold, efficient demands of a total, mechanized war.

Why Read It Today

Readers today will find this volume to be a stark, unvarnished encounter with the mindset of 1918. It is not a polished retrospective but a raw, immediate record, filled with the specific anxieties, propaganda, and tactical focus of the era. It feels like a dispatch from a world on the brink, where the language is formal and urgent, reflecting a period when the daily news could decide the fate of empires.

The book is challenging in its density; it assumes the reader is already familiar with the names of generals, specific railway lines, and the political geography of the time. The period attitudes—particularly the intense anti-German rhetoric and the unquestioning support for the Allied cause—are on full display, serving as a reminder of the era's pervasive jingoism. However, for those interested in the minutiae of history, it is invaluable. You will find yourself lingering over the lists of coal production, the descriptions of horse hospitals, and the transcripts of diplomatic letters that were once considered state secrets. It captures the "strange and terrible scenes" of the Western Front with a clinical precision that is both haunting and informative. You read it not for the comfort of a narrative arc, but to understand the sheer, grinding weight of the machine that was the Great War.