Mr. Punch's History of the Great War

EPILOGUE

Reading edition

It remains to trace in brief retrospect the record of "the months between"--a period of test and trial almost as severe as that of the War.

Having steadfastly declined the solution of a Peace without Victory, the Allies entered last November on the transitional period of Victory without Peace. The fighting was ended in the main theatres of war, the Kaiser and Crown Prince, discrowned and discredited, had sought refuge in exile, the great German War machine had been smashed, and demobilisation began at a rate which led to inevitable congestion and disappointment. The prosaic village blacksmith was not far out when, in reply to the vicar's pious hope that the time had come to beat our sword into a ploughshare, he observed, "Well, I don't know, sir. Speaking as a blacksmith of forty-five years' experience, I may tell you it can't be done." "The whole position is provisional," said the Times at the end of November. If Germany, Austria, and Russia were to be fed, how was it to be done without disregarding the prior claims of Serbia and Roumania? Even at home the food question still continued to agitate the public mind.

The General Election of December, 1918, which followed the dissolution of the longest Parliament since the days of Charles II., was a striking, if temporary proof, of the persistence of the rationing principle. It proved a triumph for the Coalition "Coupon" and for Mr. Lloyd George; the extremists and Pacificists were snowed under; Mr. Asquith was rejected and his followers reduced to a mere handful; Labour came back with an increased representation, though not as great as it desired or deserved. The triumph of the irreconcilables in Ireland was a foregone but sinister conclusion to their activities in the War, and an ominous prelude to their subsequent efforts to wreck the Pence. The pledges in regard to indemnities, the treatment of the Kaiser, and conscription so lavishly given by the Coalition Leaders caused no little misgiving at the time, and pledges, like curses, have an awkward way of coming home to roost. Mr. Punch's views on the Kaiser, expressed in his Christmas Epilogue, are worth recalling. Mr. Punch did not clamour for the death penalty, or wish to hand him over to the tender mercies of German Kultur. "The only fault he committed in German eyes is that he lost the War, and I wouldn't have him punished for the wrong offence--for something, indeed, which was our doing as much as his. No, I think I would just put him out of the way of doing further harm, in some distant penitentiary like the Devil's Island, and leave him to himself to think it all over; as Caponsacchi said of Guido in 'The Ring and the Book':

Not to die so much as slide out of life, Pushed by the general horror and common hate Low, lower--left o' the very edge of things."

"Don't you think we ought to hang the Kaiser, Mrs. 'Arris?" "It ain't the Kaiser I'm worrying about--it's the bloke what interjuiced his war-bacon."

REUNITED Strasbourg, December 8th, 1918.

Christmas, 1918, was more than "the Children's Truce." Our bugles had "sung truce," the war cloud had lifted, the invaded sky was once more free of "the grim geometry of Mars," and though very few households could celebrate the greatest of anniversaries with unbroken ranks, the mercy of reunion was granted to many homes. Yet Mr. Punch, in his Christmas musings on the solemn memory of the dead who gave us this hour, could not but realise the greatness of the task that lay before us if we were to make our country worthy of the men who fought and died for her. The War was over, but another had yet to be waged against poverty and sordid environment; against the disabilities of birth; against the abuse of wealth; against the mutual suspicions of Capital and Labour; against sloth, indifference, self-complacency, and short memories.

So the Old Year passed, the last of a terrible quinquennium, bringing grounds for thankfulness and hope along with the promise of unrest and upheaval: with Alsace-Lorraine reunited to France, with the British army holding its Watch on the Rhine, and with all eyes fixed on Paris, the scene of the Peace Conference, already invaded by an international army of delegates, experts, advisers, secretaries, typists, 500 American journalists, and President Wilson.

Great Expectations and their Tardy Fulfilment, thus in headline fashion might one summarise the story of 1919, with Peace, the world's desire, waiting for months outside the door of the Conference Chamber, with civil war in Germany, Berlin bombed by German airmen, and anarchy in Russia, and here at home impatience and discomfort, aggravated in the earlier months by strikes and influenza, the largely increased numbers of unemployed politicians, the weariest and dreariest of winter weather.

RECONSTRUCTION: A NEW YEAR'S TASK

Yet even January had its alleviations in the return of the banana, the prospect of unlimited lard, a distinct improvement in the manners of the retail tradesman, the typographical fireworks of the Times in honour of President Wilson, and the retreat of Lord Northcliffe to the sunny south. Lovers of sensation were conciliated by the appointment of "F.E." to the Lord Chancellorship, the outbreak of Jazz, and the discovery of a French author that the plays usually attributed to Shakespeare were written by Lord Derby, though not apparently the present holder of the title. The loss, through rejection or withdrawal, of so many of his old Parliamentary puppets was a serious blow to Mr. Punch, but the old Liberals, buried like the Babes in the Wood beneath a shower of Coalition coupons, already showed a sanguine spirit, and the departure of the freaks could be contemplated with resignation. The great Exodus to Paris began in December, but it reached its height in January. The mystery of the Foreign Office official who had not gone was cleared up by the discovery that he was the caretaker, a pivotal man who could not be demobilised. Another exodus of a less desirable sort was that of the Sinn Fein prisoners, which gave rise to the rumour that the Lord Lieutenant had threatened that if they destroyed any more jails they would be rigorously released. Sinn Fein, which refused to fight Germany, had already begun to play at a new sort of war. Australia was preparing to welcome the homing transports sped with messages of Godspeed from the Motherland:

Rich reward your hearts shall hold, None less dear if long delayed, For with gifts of wattle-gold Shall your country's debt be paid; From her sunlight's golden store She shall heal your hurts of war. Ere the mantling Channel's mist Dim your distant decks and spars, And your flag that victory kissed And Valhalla hung with stars-- Crowd and watch our signal fly: "Gallant hearts, good-bye! Good-bye!"

THE 1919 MODEL MR. PUNCH: "They've given you a fine new machine, Mr. Premier, and you've got plenty of spirit, but look out for bumps."

February, a month of comparative anti-climax, witnessed the reassembling of Parliament, fuller than ever of members if not of wisdom. As none of the Sinn Feiners were present, nor indeed any representative of Irish Nationalism, the proceedings were as orderly as a Quaker's funeral, save for the arrival of one member on a motor-scooter. Perhaps the most interesting information elicited during the debates was this--that every question put down costs the tax-payer a guinea. On February 20th there were 282 on the Order Paper, and Mr. Punch was moved to wonder whether this cascade of curiosity might be abated if every questionist were obliged to contribute half the cost, the amount to be deducted from his official salary. The Speaker, the greatest of living Parliamentarians, was re-elected by acclamation. Though human and humorous, he has grown into something almost more like an institution than a man, like Big Ben, that great patriot and public servant who never struck during the war. The best news in February was that of M. Clemenceau's escape, though wounded, from the Anarchist assassin who had attempted to translate Trotsky's threat into action. But it did not help on the proposed Conference with the Russians at Prinkipo or encourage the prospect of any tangible results from the deliberation of the Prinkipotentiaries. The plain man could see no third choice beyond supporting Bolshevism or anti-Bolshevism. But according to our Prime Minister, we were committed to a compromise. The Allies were not prepared to intervene in force, and they could not leave Russia to stew in her own hell-broth. Meanwhile the chief criminal, Germany, had begun to utter ad misericordiam appeals for the relaxation of the Armistice terms on the score of their cruelty; and Count Brockdorff-Rantzau gave us a foretaste of his quality by declaring that "Germany cannot be treated as a second-rate nation."

"How was it you never let your mother know you'd won the V.C.?" "It wasna ma turrn tae write."

ENGLAND EXPECTS (With Mr. Punch's best hopes for the success of the National Industrial Conference.) BOTH LIONS (together): "Unaccustomed as I am to lie down with anything but a lamb, still, for the sake of the public good ... "

At home, though the rays of "sweet unrationed revelry" were still to come, and Dulce Domum could not yet be sung in every sense, February brought us some relief in the demobilisation of the pivotal pig. And the decision to hold a National Industrial Conference was of encouraging augury for the settlement of industrial strife on the basis of a full inquiry and frank statement of facts. In other walks of life reticence still has its charms, and even in February people had begun to ask who the General was who had threatened not to write a book about the War.

March, the mad month, remained true to type. Even Mr. Punch found it hard to preserve his equanimity:

O Month, before your final moon is set Much may have happened--anything, in fact; More than in any March that I have met, (Last year excepted) fearful nerves are racked; Anarchy does with Russia what it likes; Paris is put conundrums very knotty; And here in England, with its talk of strikes, Men, like your own March hares, seem going dotty.

Abroad the ex-Kaiser was very busy sawing trees, possibly owing to an hallucination that they were German Generals.

THE EASTER OFFERING MR. LLOYD GEORGE (fresh from Paris): "I don't say it's a perfect egg, but parts of it, as the saying is, are excellent."

At home the Government decided to release such of the Sinn Fein prisoners as had not already saved them the trouble, and a Coal Industry Commission was appointed on which no representative of the general public was invited to sit--that is to say, the patient, much enduring consumer, not the public which has all along sought to discount peace by premature whooping, jubilating, and Jazzing. For the Dove of Peace, though in strict training, seemed in danger of collapsing under the weight of the League of Nations' olive bough, to say nothing of other perils, notably the Bolshy-bird, a most obscene brand of vulture.

Mr. Wilson was once more on the Atlantic, and Mr. Lloyd George, distracted between his duties in Paris and the demands of Labour, recalled Sir Boyle Roche's bird, or the circus performer riding two horses at once. In Parliament the interpretation of election pledges occupied a good deal of time, and Mr. Bonar Law twice declared the policy of the Government in regard to indemnities as being to demand the largest amount that Germany could pay, but not to demand what we knew she couldn't pay. It would have saved him a great deal of trouble if at the General Election the Government spokesmen had insisted as much upon the second half of the policy as they did on the first. Earnest appeals for economy were made from the Treasury Bench on the occasion of the debate on the Civil Service Estimates, now swollen to five times their pre-war magnitude, and were heartily applauded by the House. To show how thoroughly they had gone home, Mr. Adamson, the Labour Leader, immediately pressed for an increase in the salaries of Members of Parliament.

OVERWEIGHTED PRESIDENT WILSON: "Here's your olive branch. Now get busy." DOVE OF PEACE: "Of course, I want to please everybody, but isn't this a bit thick?"

HOW TO BRIGHTEN THE PERIOD OF REACTION MOTHER (to son who has fought on most of the Fronts): "Don't you know what to do with yourself, George? Why don't you 'ave a walk down the road, dear?" FATHER: "Ah, 'e ain't seen the corner where they pulled down Simmondses' fish-shop, 'as 'e, Ma?"

On the Rhine the efforts of our army of occupation to present the stern and forbidding air supposed to mark our dealings with the inhabitants were proving a lamentable failure. You can't produce a really good imitation of a Hun without lots of practice. Gloating is entirely foreign to the nature of Thomas Atkins, and he could not pass a child yelling in the gutter without stooping to comfort it. At home his education was proceeding on different lines. The period of reaction had set in, and unwonted exertions were necessary to stimulate his interest. Such artless devices were, however, preferable to the pastime, already fashionable in more exalted circles, of kicking a total stranger round the room to the accompaniment of cymbals, a motor siren, and a frying pan.

After a month of madness it was not to be wondered at that we should have a month of muzzling, though the enforcement of the order might have been profitably extended from dogs to journalists. The secrecy maintained by the Big Four--a phrase invented by America--the conflict of the idealists with the realists, and the temporary break-away of the Italian wrestler, Orlando, were bound to excite comment. But a shattered world could not be rebuilt in a day, with Bolshevist wolves prowling about the Temple of Peace, and the Dove at sea between the Ark and Archangel. The Covenant of the League of Nations, though in a diluted form, had at last taken shape, the Peace Machine had got a move on, and the Premier's spirited, if not very dignified, retaliation on the newspaper snipers led to an abatement of unnecessary hostilities, though the pastime of shooting policemen with comparative impunity still flourished in Ireland, and the numbers and cost of our "army of inoccupation" still continued to increase. Innumerable queries were made in Parliament on the subject of the unemployment dole, but the announcement that the Admiralty did not propose to perpetuate the title "Grand Fleet" for the principal squadron of His Majesty's Navy passed without comment. The Grand Fleet is now a part of the History that it did so much to make.

May and June were "hectic" months, in which the reaction from the fatigues and restraints of War found vent in an increased disinclination for work, encouraged by a tropical sun. These were the months of the resumption of cricket, the Victory Derby, the flood of honours, and the flying of the Atlantic, with a greater display of popular enthusiasm over the gallant airmen who failed in that feat than over the generals who had won the War. They were also the months of the duel between Mr. Smillie and the Dukes, the discovery of oil in Derbyshire, the privileged excursion into War polemics of Lord French, unrest in Egypt, renewed trouble with the police, and a shortage of beer, boots and clothes.

"END OF A PERFECT 'TAG'"

But though the Big Four had been temporarily reduced to a Big Three by Italy's withdrawal, and though M. Clemenceau, Mr. Lloyd George, and President Wilson had all suffered in prestige by the slow progress of the negotiations, Versailles, with the advent of the German delegates, more than ever riveted the gaze of an expectant world. To sign or not to sign, or, in the words of Wilhelm Shakespeare, Sein oder nicht sein: hier ist die Frage--that was the problem which from the moment of his famous opening speech Count Brockdorff-Rantzau was up against. But, as the days wore on, in spite of official impenitence and the double breach of the Armistice terms by the scuttling of the German war-ships at Scapa and the burning of the French flags at Berlin, the force of "fierce reluctant truculent delay" was spent against the steadily growing volume of national acquiescence, culminating in the decision of the Weimar Assembly, the tardy choice of new delegates, and the final scene in the Hall of Mirrors, haunted by the ghosts of 1871.

Writing at the moment of the Signature of Peace and in deep thankfulness for the relief it brings to a stricken world, Mr. Punch is too old to jazz for joy, but he is young enough to face the future with a reasoned optimism, born of a belief in his race and their heroic achievements in these great and terrible years. Victory took us by surprise; and we were less prepared for Peace at that moment than we had ever been for War. And just as in the first days of the fighting we went astray, running after the cry "Business as usual," so to-day we are making as bad a mistake when we run after "Pleasure as usual"--or rather more than usual. But we soon revised that early error, and we shall not waste much time about revising this. For though we lacked imagination then, and still lack it, we have the gift, perhaps even more useful if less showy, of commonsense. And when commonsense is found in natures that are honest and hearts that are clean, it may make mistakes, but not for long. No, the spirit which won the War is not going to fail us at this second call. Perhaps we have only been waiting for the actual coming of Peace to settle down to our new and greater task.

But let us never forget the debt, unpaid and unpayable, to our immortal dead and to the valiant survivors of the great conflict, to whom we owe freedom and security and the possibility of a better and cleaner world.

GHOSTS AT VERSAILLES

INDEX

"According to plan,"

Admirals, retired, accept commissions in R.N.R.

Admiralty and Zeebrugge despatches

Africa, German South-West, Botha makes clean sweep in

After one Year

Airmen, Allied

Bombard Karlsruhe

German, increased activity of

Air Raids

Daylight, extend to London

Public to be warned

Aisne, Battle of

Alarming spread of bobbing

Albert, King of Belgium

Tribute to

Victorious on Flanders coast

Allenby, General

Advances steadily

Captures Damascus

Enters Jerusalem

Allied Council, new, formed

Allotment workers

Alsace-Lorraine reunited to France

Also Ran

America

Enters War

War of Notes

American, an, interviews German Crown Prince

American Troops

Enter firing line

First land in France

Ammunition expended round Neuve Chapelle

Amundsen, Roald, prepares for trip to North Pole

Ancre, British push extends to

Anglia, East, air-raids in

Antwerp, Fall of

Anzac, British heroism at

Armenia, martyrdom of

Armentières, Germans break through at

Armistice

Big Ben breaks silence

How England took news of

Signed

Women ring church bells

Armistice Day

Army Signalling Alphabet

Asquith, Mr.

Ceases to be Prime Minister

Discusses new Votes of Credit

Goes to Ireland

Promises to purge Peerage of Enemy Dukes

Recants hostility to Women's suffrage

Rejected at General Election

Athens, riot in

"Au Revoir!"

Australians, valour of

Austria

Defeated by Serbia

Defeated on Italian front

Gives in

Issues Peace Note

Sues for Peace

Threatens Roumania

Austrians driven from Belgrade

Bad Dream, A

Baghdad, taken by British

Balfour, Mr.

Appointed First Lord

Returns from U.S.A.

Balkans, irrelevant news from

Banana, return of the

Bapaume

Germans take

Recaptured by Allies

Beatty, Admiral, German Fleet surrenders to

Belgium

Opposes German invasion

Resurrection of

Belgrade occupied by enemy

Bennett, Mr. Arnold, appointed Director of Propaganda

Berlin

Bombed

French flags burnt at

Revolution breaks out

Strikes in, suppressed

Bernstorff, Count

Mendacity of

Promotes strikes in U.S.A.

Best Smell of All, the

Bethmann-Hollweg dismissed,

Betrayed,

Big Four's secrecy,

Big Push, The,

Billing, Mr. Pemberton

Elected for Mid-Herts,

Offers to raid enemy aircraft bases.

Suspended from House of Commons,

Birdwood, General,

Birrell, Mr., apologia of,

Bismarck, Prince

Bissing, Baron von,

Reported dead

Retires from Belgium,

Bloaters, unprecedented price of,

Blücher, the, sunk by British,

Blume, General von, depreciates American intervention,

Boat-race, Oxford and Cambridge, suspended,

Bobbing, Alarming spread of,

Bordeaux, Paris Government removed to

Botha, General

Enters War

Makes clean sweep in S.W. Africa

Bottomley, Mr. Horatio, visits France,

Bravo, Belgium

Brazil enters War

Bread, curtailment of,

Brest-Litovsk

Conference

Taken by enemy

Treaty signed

British Expeditionary Force Lands in France

Brockdorff-Rantzau, Count,

Bruges reoccupied by Allies

Brusiloff, General

Opens new Russian offensive,

Successful against Austrians

Brussels

Fall of

Murder of Edith Cavell at

Buckmaster, Lord, appointed Lord Chancellor

Bukarest, fall of,

Bulgaria surrenders,

Bulgarians smashed by Allies

Bull-dog Breed, the,

Bungalows, Government, increase of

Burns, Mr. John, re-emerges

Byng, General

Victory at Cambrai

Byron, Lord, and Greece

By special request

Cabinet pool salaries

Cadet battalions housed in colleges

Caligny, Americans at,

Callousness of smart people

Cambrai

Byng's victory at

Recaptured by Allies

Cambridge, Cadet battalions at

Camouflage, new art of

Caporetto, enemy break through at

"Captain of Koepenick" reported dead

Carson, Sir Edward

Pays tribute to Major Redmond

Resigns Office

Casement, Sir Roger, and German Kaiser

Castlenau, General

Casualties, British

Cavell, Edith

Murder of,

Names of her principal assassins

Cecil, Lord Robert, appointed Minister of Blockade

Celestial Dud, the

Censorship and War Correspondents

Challenge, the

Chamberlain, Mr. Austen, resigns office

Champagne, French offensive at

Chemin des Dames, Germans capture

Children of Consolation

Children's Peace

China, food prices in

Christmas

Musings, Punch's

Truce and fraternisation

Church bells requisitioned

Churchill, Mr. Winston

Appointed Minister of Munitions

Dardanelles expedition

Paints landscapes

Rejoins his regiment

Resigns Duchy of Lancaster

Retires to Duchy of Lancaster

Civilian, the, and the War Office

Civil Service Estimates

Clemenceau, M.

Attempted assassination of

Tribute to

Clyde, labour troubles on the

Coal Commission appointed

Coalition Government

Formed

Leaders' pledges

Coalitionists triumph at General Election

Coat that didn't come off, the

Cologne, Archbishop of, and the Kaiser

Combles taken by Allies

Coming Army, the

Commission

To inquire into Dardanelles expedition

To inquire into Mesopotamian expedition

"Complete accord,"

Compulsory rationing a fact

Comrades in Victory

Conscientious Objectors in Non-combatant Corps

Constables, special, guard King's highway

Constantine, King of Greece

Abdicates

Contemplates abdication,

Forms Cabinet of Professors

Mr. Asquith's appeal to

To receive £20,000 a year

Treated tenderly

Contemptibles, the old

Corn Production Bill

Coronel avenged

Correspondents, Mr. Punch's,

iii

Cradock, Admiral

Crank, Whip's definition of a

Craonne taken by French

"Credibility index,"

Crown Prince, German

American interviews

Common brigand, a

Has misgivings

In exile

Cuba declares war on Austria

Cuffley, Zeppelin brought down at

Daily Mail, candour of

Daily News and Punch

Daily Telegraph, Lord Lansdowne's letter to

Damascus captured by Allies

Dance of Death, the

Danube, Serbians reach the

Dardanelles Commission

Dawn of Doubt, the

Daylight Saving

Bill passed

Death Lord, the

Debeney, General

Praises Americans

Defence of the Realm Act

(De)merit, the reward of,

Demobilisation commences

Derby, Lord

Director of Recruiting

Minister of War

Dernburg, Dr., his picture of German innocents

Deutschland, German submarine, exploits of

Devonport, Lord

Appointed Food Controller

Approves new dietary for prisoners

Retires as Food Controller

Diary--

1914, August,

September,

October,

November,

December,

1915, January,

February,

March,

April,

May,

June,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November,

December,

1916, January,

February,

March,

April,

May,

June,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November,

December,

1917, January,

February,

March,

April

May,

June,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November,

December,

1918, January,

February,

March,

April,

May,

June,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November,

Die Nacht am Rhein

Dogger Bank

German reverse off

Domestic servant's philosophy

Dominions, loyalty of

Douai regained by Allies

Drake's Way

Drocourt-Quéant switchline breached by Allies

Dud, the

Duke, Mr., retires from Irish Chief Secretaryship

Dumba, Dr., promotes strikes in U.S.A.

Dunraven, Lord, excuses Irishmen

Dynastic Amenities

Easter offering, the

Economy, appeals for

Editor of the Vorwärts arrested

Education Bill

Second reading of

Lord Haldane lectures on

Ekaterinburg, Ex-Tsar and family murdered at

Emden sunk by the Sydney

Emmas, the two

Empire, indispensable in winning War

End of a perfect "Tag,"

England

Tribute to, by New York Life

War could not have been won without

Enver Pasha goes to Medina

Epilogue

Erzerum falls to Russians

Euphemists

Excursionist, the,

Exile, the Irish

F.E." appointed Lord Chancellor

Falaba, the, sunk by German submarine

Falkland Islands

Battle of

Farmer and Farm Labourer

Far-reaching effect of the Russian Push, the

Ferdinand, King of Bulgaria

Abdicates

Declares war on Serbia

Goes to Vienna

Inscrutability of

Fidgety Wilhelm, the story of

Fifth British Army, Germans break through

Final, the

Fisher, Lord, will not give explanations,

Fisher, Mr., eulogised

Flag days

Flanders coast evacuated by Germans

Fleet, German, surrenders

Flight that failed

Flying of the Atlantic

Foch, General

Appointed Generalissimo of Allied Forces

Arranges Armistice

Made a G.C.B.

Receives German envoys

Tribute to

Food at the Front

Control, public for

Production, urgency for increased

Question discussed in Parliament

Question in Germany

Restriction

Stocks increasing

Ford, Mr. Henry

Offers his works to American authorities

Visits Europe

For Neutrals--For Natives,

Fort Douaumont falls

Fourth of July celebrated in France

France, destruction and desolation of

France's Day

Franchet d'Esperey, General

Francis Joseph, Emperor, dies

French, General

Appointed Viceroy of Ireland

His "contemptible little army,"

Relinquishes his command

Responsible for Home Defence against enemy aircraft

Fryatt, Captain, murder of

Funchal, U-boats busy at

Gaiety at military hospitals

Gallipoli

Allies land in

Casualties in

Complete evacuation of,

Discomforts of

Garibaldi still an animating force in Italy

Gaul to the New Caesar,

Gaza taken by British

Geddes, Sir Eric

Defends Admiralty

First Lord

General Election

General Janvier

Geography taught by War

George V. of England

Abolishes German titles held by family

His House to be known as Windsor

Sets a fine example

Visits Front

George, Mr. Lloyd

Appointed Minister of Munitions

Defines British policy

Deputed to confer with Irish leaders

Expounds plan for Irish Convention

Prime Minister

Secretary for War

Suffers in prestige

Triumph of

Warns peacemongers

Gerard, Mr., Reminiscences of

German

Frightfulness

General Staff and set-backs

Substitutes

Germany

Campaign of Falsehood in

Civil War in

Fleet surrenders

"German Truth Society" founded

Great mistake of

Hints to Italy

Ill-treats prisoners

Indulges in reprisals

Jealous of Lusitania records

Laments over Allied blockade

Lunatics called up for service

Mutiny at Kiel

New Peace offensive

Old, contrasted

Peace overtures

Signs armistice

Signs peace

Sinks two hospital ships

Sprays British soldiers with flaming petrol

Squirts boiling pitch over Russians

Torpedoes Neutral merchant ships

Warns Punch

Ghosts at Versailles

God (and the Women) our shield,

Goeben, disaster to the

Good Hope, H.M.S., sunk

Gothas, activities of

Gouraud, General

Governesses, English, revelations of

Grandcourt, taken by British

Grand Fleet, ceaseless vigil of

Title, passes

Grapes of Verdun, the,

Great incentive, a

Greece

Dominated by pro-German Court

Hampers Allies

Territory violated by Bulgarian troops

Ultimatum presented to

Greenwich time applied to Ireland

Grey, Sir Edward

Dissatisfied with Neutrals

Statements re France and Belgium

Grimsby fishermen's fight

Guy Fawkes Day, no fireworks on

Gwynn, Capt., undertakes to raise Irish brigade

Haig, Sir Douglas

Commander-in-Chief of British Armies in France

Issues a Dispatch

Issues historic order

Haldane, Lord

Debt to, for Territorials

Lectures on Education

Retires from Chancellorship

Hamlet, U.S.A.,

Hampshire, the, mined

Handyman, A,

Hardinge Report, Lords discuss the

Harvest, a successful

Haunted ship

Havre, Belgian Government removed to

Hay, Ian, book by

Healy, Mr. Tim, champions Government

Held!

Heligoland Bight

Naval engagement in

Hertling, Erzberger's campaign against Chancellor

Hidden Hand, the

Hindenburg, Marshal von

Assumes command of Austrian troops

Presented with house

Retreats on Western Front

Hindenburgitis

Hindenburg line breached

His latest

Home Front, the

Derby, Lord, most prominent man on

Drink, a dangerous enemy

Education of those on

Flower-beds sacrificed

Khaki weddings

London Police strike

Pessimists, cure for

Railway Travelling, discomforts of

Trials of mistresses on

Hooge, British success at

Horne, General

Hotels commandeered

House of Commons

Attends church

Characteristics of

How to brighten the period of reaction

Hunding line

Hun to Hun

Hyde Park used for training troops

India, "lonely soldiers" in

Indian troops

Infectious hornpipe, the

Influenza, Spanish

In honour of the British Navy

In reserve

Inseparable, the

Invasion by sea, English Press fears

Ireland

Debate on, in Parliament

Dominates proceedings in Parliament

Exempted from Military Service Bill

Greenwich time applied to

Insurrection in West of

Insurrectionist leaders executed

Irreconcilables triumph at General Election

Maxwell, Sir John, appointed to supreme command

Nationalists attack Sir John Maxwell

Placed under martial law

Irish Convention

Exile, the

Harvest labourers

Italy

Bainsizza plateau saved

Declares war on Austria

Push on the Isonzo

Jaffa, British in

James, Mr. Henry

Adopts British nationality

Tribute to England by

Jazz, outbreak of

Jellicoe, Lord, retires from post of First Sea Lord

Jericho captured by Allies

Jerusalem captured by British

Joffre, General, announces rolling back of enemy

John, Mr. Augustus, paints Mr. Lloyd George's portrait

Jones, Mr. Kennedy

Declares beer a food

Resignation of

Journalists visit the Fleet

Jutland, Battle of

Kaiser, German

Abdicates

Absent from Francis Joseph's funeral

Attila's understudy

Blasphemer and Hypocrite

Denies responsibility for War

Disappointed with Allah

Encourages war on non-combatants

First War birthday

Flees to Holland

Foiled before Nancy

Has another grandson

Murderer of innocents

Orders blockade of England

Poses as friend of the people

Pro-Socialist

Punch's views on

Refrains from active participation in military operations

Reprimands Prince Frederick Leopold of Prussia

Sorry for France

Speech to Eton College Volunteers

Talks of his conscience

Kaiser, Ex-, saws trees

Karl, Emperor of Austria's suggestion re Alsace-Lorraine

Karlsruhe bombarded by Allied airmen

Kerensky, appointed head of Russian Provisional Government

Overthrown

Keyes, Admiral, locks up German submarines

Kiel, mutiny at

Kipling, Mr.

Kitchener, Lord

Asks for more men

Death of

Eulogies of

Gives frugal information to Lords

Meets critics in Parliament

Obtains 1,000,000 men

Starts on the Hampshire for Russia

War Minister

Kluck, General von, failure of

Kölnische Zeitung and Punch

Kühlmann, von, fall of

Kultur, the reward of

Kut captured by British

Labour

Demands of

Real voice of

Representation of

Troubles

Lansdowne, Lord, writes to Daily Telegraph

Laon, recaptured by Allies

Last Throw, the

Law, Mr. Bonar

Announces air-raid reprisals

Appointed Leader of the House

Declares policy re indemnities

Introduces Budget

Made Chancellor of the Exchequer

Travels to France by aeroplane

Will not discuss military situation

League of Nations takes shape

Leinster, the, sunk by Germans

Lenin

Appearance of

Attempted assassination of

Installed as dictator

Liberators, the

Lichnowsky's disclosures

Liége, Fall of

Lies, German campaign of

Lighting Orders, enforcement of

Lille regained by Allies

Lissauer, Herr, decorated by Kaiser

London, daylight air-raids extend to

Lonely soldiers

Long, Mr. Walter, his remedy for carping criticism

Loos, fighting at

Lord Mayor's banquet simplified

Lost chief, the

Lost land, a

Louvain, sack of

Lovelace, the modern

Ludendorff resigns

Lusitania

, the

American victims

Sinking of

Luxuries, imports of, curtailed

Lynch, Colonel, undertakes to raise Irish brigade

MacCabean Boy Scouts

MacNeill, Mr. Swift

Endeavours to purge peerage of enemy dukes

Resents setting up of War Cabinet

Made in Germany

Mangin, General

Manifesto of German artists and professors

Marine, Mercantile, tribute paid to by Parliament

Marne

German push to

Germans again hurled back across

Mary, Queen of England, tribute to

Massacres by Bolshevists

Maude, General

Captures Kut

Death of

Maunoury, General

Maurice affair, the

Max, Burgomaster of Brussels

Max, Prince

German Chancellor

Issues pacific manifesto

McKenna, Mr.

Chancellor of Exchequer

Introduces Bill for raising War Loan

Meatless days

Men of forty-one wanted

Merchant ships

Dutch, sunk by German submarine

Neutral, torpedoed by German submarines

Mesopotamia, tide turning in

Messines Ridge captured

Michaelis, Dr.

Appointed German Chancellor

Dismissed

Military Service Bill

Becomes law

Ireland exempted from

Milner, Lord, on misleading war news

Minesweepers, honour due to

Ministry of Munitions created

Missing

Mistresses, trials of

Monastir

Fall of,

Recaptured by Serbians and French

Monmouth, H.M.S., sunk

Mons

British reach

Retreat from

Monte Sabotino captured by Italians

Moon our enemy

Morning Hate, Prussian household having its

Mort Homme, carnage at

Mottoes and proverbs,

Mule humour

Müller, Captain, a chivalrous antagonist

Munitions, smart people work at

Museum, British, war spirit at

Museums, London, closed

Mutiny of sailors at Kiel

Muzzling Order

Namur, Fall of

Narrows, the, failure to get through

National Industrial Conference

National Party, the new

National Registration Bill, second Reading of

National Thrift Campaign

Navy, its efficient work

Need of men, the

Neuve Chapelle captured by British

New Armies

Composition of

Education of

Training of

New Conductor, the

New Guinea taken by Allies

New language, the

Newmarket, racing stopped at

Newspaper readers, credibility index" for

Nicholas, Emperor of Russia

Abdicates

Generalissimo of his armies

Nineteen-nineteen Model, the

Northcliffe, Lord

and his correspondence

visits U.S.A.

North Sea, U-boats active in

Novo-Georgievsk taken by enemy

Noyon recaptured by Allies

Officer, wounded, ;experiences of

Officers, young, splendid record of

Oil discovered in Derbyshire

Old Man of the Sea

Old-timer, the

Omen of 1908

On Earth--Peace

One up!

On the Black List

Opera by English composer produced

Optimist, the

Order of British Empire

Orlando, Italian Statesman

Ostend

Naval exploit at

Regained by Allies

O.T.C. and the Universities

Our Man

Our persevering officials

"Ourselves Alone" motto of Sinn Fein

Overweighted

Oxford, cadet battalions at

Pacifists

Dilemma of

Impressed by Germany's lamentations

Paris

Exodus to

Peace Conference at

Shelled by long-distance gun

Parliament

Assembles

Dissolution of

Extension of life of

Houses of, Stars and Stripes and Union Jack fly over

Passchendaele Ridge stormed by British

Peace

Signed

The children's

Penny Postage gone

Perfect Innocence

Péronne

British enter

Fall of

Recovered by Allies

Persuading of Tino, the

Pétain, hero of Verdun

Piave, Italians cross the

Picture galleries, London, closed

Pill-boxes, German, made of British cement

Pitiful pose, a,

Place in the moon, a

Place of Arms, a

Plain duty, a

Plumer, General

Stands firm on the Piave

Victorious in Flanders

Poison gas, Germans use

Police, London, strike

Political truce

Politician who addressed the troops, the

Pommern, the, sunk by British

Portugal enters War

Posters

And Publicity

And War Loans

Newspaper, absence of

Press

Bureau

Campaign against Mr. Asquith

German, humours of

Prince of Wales

Relief Fund

Takes his seat

Prinkipo, proposed conference at

Prisoner, British, sentenced for calling Germans "Huns,"

Prisoners

German, arrive in Ireland

German offer re

Propaganda, German, in United States

Prophecy

An old Arab

Punch's, re Kaiser

Proportional Representation rejected

Punch's

Cartoons and the Kölnische Zeitung,

Correspondents,

Queen Elizabeth, H.M.S., attacks in Dardanelles

Queries, futile, to wounded soldiers

Queues

Disappear

For various commodities

"Queue War,"

Rabbit, the elusive

Raids by sea

Rasputin, sinister figure of

Rationing, compulsory,

Rawlinson, General

Realisation,

Reconstruction

Recruit who took to it kindly

Recruiting, posters to aid

Redmond, Major William

Falls in Flanders

Makes thrilling speech

Tribute to, in Commons

Redmond, Mr. John, death of

Reichstag not blind to facts

Rejuvenating effect of Zeppelins

Reprisals on German cities advocated

Repudiation, the,

Return of the Mock Turtle-Dove

Reunited

Reventlow, Count, and the Kaiser

Reward of Kultur, the,

Rheims Cathedral bombarded

Rhine, British Army's watch on the

Rhondda, Lord

Appointed Food Controller

Death of

Richter, Dr. Hans, clamours for British extinction

Riga, Gulf of, German defeat in

Riga occupied by Germans

Rivers, French, find their voices

Roberts, Mr., Minister of Labour

Roberts, Lord

Death of

Germans pay tribute to

His reticence

Robertson, Sir William

Accepts Eastern Command at home

Appointed Chief of Staff

Displaced

Robinson, Lieutenant, brings down Zeppelin

Roosevelt, Mr., invents new invective

Roumania joins Allies

Royal Family, British, fine example of

Royal Flying Corps

Great losses of

Running amok,

Rupprecht, Crown Prince, entertains journalists

Russia

Army retreats

Bolshevist coup d'état.

Bolshevist régime stained with massacres

Collapses

Dark hour of

Débacle in

End of Tsardom

Ex-Tsar and family shot

Provisional Government dissolved

Recovering herself

Republic proclaimed

Russian Army said to have passed through England

Saint-Quentin recaptured by Allies

St. James's Park, lake in, drained

St. Mihiel salient flattened out by Americans

Salonika

Allies land at

Front

Triumphant advance by Allies on

Saluting abolished in Russian Army

Sands run out, the

San Gabriele, Italian success at

Santa Klaus, Punch welcomes

Scapa Flow, German Fleet surrenders at

Germans scuttle their warships at

Scarborough bombarded

Scott, Admiral Percy

Expert adviser to Lord French

Scrapper scrapped, the

Secret

Diplomacy

Session

Sedan, American Army reaches

Serbia

Austrians and Germans invade

Liberation of

Overrun

Servant

Domestic, problem

Officer's description of

Sevastopol, Germans reach

Shaw, Mr. Bernard

Colossal arch-super-egotist

Visits Front

Shirkers' War News

Shortt, Mr., appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland

Siegfried line

Sinn Fein

Creed of

Excesses

Plays at war

Smart people, callousness of

Smith-Dorrien, General, at Le Cateau

Smuts, General, commands in East Africa

Soissons, Germans capture

Soldier and civilian

Soldiers, British

Cannot imitate Hun

Ordeal on Western Front

Tribute to

Solid

Some bird

Somme

Battle of the, commences

Guns heard in England

Results of Battle of the

"Song of Plenty"

South-West Africa

German, gives in to Allies

Germans poison wells in

Spanish influenza

Speaker of House of Commons re-elected

Spee, Admiral von, goes down with his squadron

Spies, German

Spurlos versenkt

Spy-hunting in East Anglia

Spy play, emergence of

Storm driven

Strain on the affections

Strasbourg

Strauss, Herr, does not sign German artists' manifesto

Study of Prussian household having its Morning Hate

Sturdee, Admiral

Submarine frightfulness, the new, commences

Submarines, British, in the Baltic

Submarines, German

Cornered

Grimsby's fight against

Locked up

Torpedo British battleships

Suffragists' cause triumphs

Suits, standard

Sumner, Lord, on Houses of Parliament

Sunlight-loser, the

Suvla Bay, British heroism at

Sweden assists German Secret Service

Sweepers of the sea,

Swooping from the West

Tanks, coming of the

Tannenberg, Russian repulse at

Tares, the Sower of

T.B.D.

Territorials

Doing great work in India

Efficiency and keenness of

Mobilised

Teutons, panegyric of, in Die Welt

Thiepval taken by Allies

Threatened Peace Offensive

Thrift campaign

Tirpitz, Grand Admiral, dismissed

Tisza, Count, admits defeat

To all at home

Tommy, British

Needs no vocabulary

Philosophy of

To the Glory of France,

Townshend, General

Besieged in Kut

Heroism of his force

Tramcar humour

Tramps disappear from England

Transitional period

Trawlers, honour due to

Trenchard, General, retires from Air Staff

Trenches, sportsmanship of

Trench warfare commences

Trials of a camouflage officer

Trotsky released from internment

Tsing-tau, Japanese take

Tuber's repartee, the

Turkey

Appeals to Berlin for funds

Defeated in Caucasus

Defeated on Suez Canal

Enters war

Granted armistice

Two Germanies, the

"Two heads with but a single thought,"

U-boat interned at Cadiz

U-boats

Appear off U.S.A.

Sir E. Geddes's diagram re

Ulstermen and Conscription

Unauthorised flirtation, an,

Unconquerable

Unemployment dole

United States

Accused of stealing cypher key

German propaganda in

Issues warning Note on neutral trading

No peace with Hohenzollerns

Unsinkable Tirp., the

V.A.D., tributes to

Venizelos, M., resumes power

Verdun

Germans closing in on

Struggle around, begins

Triumph of French at

Versailles

Conference,

Council, foresight of

Peace signed at

Very much up

Victory!

Vienna, peace kite-flying at

Villager, English, and prospects of invasion

Vimy Ridge, Canadians capture

Volunteers, training of

Von Pot and von Kettle

Wales, South

Miners' strike

Provides recruits

Wanted--a St. Patrick,

War

Anniversaries of,

iii

Cabinet, Mr. Henderson resigns from

Changes wrought by

Conference of the Empire called

Daily cost of

Loans,

News, the shirkers'

Pictures

Propaganda, need for a, at home

Teaching geography

Vocabulary

Ward, Colonel, defends Compulsory Service Bill

Warsaw, Russians lose

Waterloo Campaign and Great War

Wayside Calvary, the

Weddings, khaki

Well done, the New Army

Wemyss, Sir Rosslyn, on R.N. and mercantile marine

Whigs and Tories, strife between, revived

Whitby bombarded

Wilhelm I.'s message to wife

Wilhelmshaven indefinitely closed

William o' the Wisp

Wilson, General, appointed Chief of Imperial Staff

Wilson, President

And the Lusitania

Declines to be rushed

Forbearance of

His Fourteen Points

Last Note to Germany

Launches a new phrase

Wittenberg, ill-treatment of prisoners at

Wolff, mendacity of

Woman Power

Women

Belgian, used as a screen

Driving vans

Gardeners

Licensed as taxi-drivers

Obtain the Vote

Opportunities taken by

Punch delighted at their varied work

Undertake men's work

War and poetry

Word of ill-omen, a

Wotan line

Breached

Wounded, return of, to England

Ypres

Germans repulsed at

Germans stopped at

Second battle of

Third battle of, commences,

Zeebrugge, naval exploit at

Zeppelin, Count, swears to destroy London

Zeppelins

French bag several

One brought down at Cuffley

Plague of, stayed

Raid encourages emulation