Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/866

 650 General History oj Europe belonging to Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Turkey, and Russia were to be immediately withdrawn. Germany was to hand over her war vessels, surrender all her submarines and vast supplies of war material, and put her railroads and all means of communica- tion on the left bank of the Rhine at the disposal of the Allies. These and other provisions were designed to make any renewal of the war on Germany's part absolutely impossible. Hard as were the terms, the Germans accepted them promptly, and on November n the armistice was signed. The World War was now at an end. 1174. Cost in Property. It is estimated that during the World War nearly sixty million men were mobilized. Of these nearly eight million were killed in battle and over eighteen million wounded. Of those who recovered perhaps a quarter or more were permanently mutilated or crippled for life. The loss among the civilian populations was tremendous owing to famine, disease, and massacres, amounting to perhaps seventeen millions of lives. The national debts of the nations participating in the war were in the case of the Central Powers raised from about five to forty-four billions of dollars, and in the case of the Allies from twenty-one to eighty-six. Five thousand six hundred and twenty-two British merchant ships were sunk, nearly half of them with their crews on board. The French Chamber of Deputies calculated that the damage done by the Germans in northern France amounted to towards thirteen billions of dollars. These figures give some hint of the really unimaginable costs of the conflict in life and treasure. 1175. Sacrifices of the United States. When our own country entered the war all the other combatants were worn and weary with the great struggle. Considering the population and vast wealth of the United States, our sacrifices in men and goods were slight compared with what the European belligerents suffered; but these sacrifices were terrible enough to make plain to us the unutterable horrors of war and the absolute necessity of cooperat- ing with the rest of the world in preventing the recurrence of another such stupendous catastrophe.