![]() ![]() (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Īs for terms, Pershing had one response: “There can be no conclusion to this war until Germany is brought to her knees.“ The French and British Allies might be exhausted and long for peace, but Pershing saw his army akin to a fighter ready to deliver the knockout punch who is told to quit with his opponent reeling but still standing. following the end of the First World War. November 1918: Peace celebrations in the U.S. “Germany’s desire is only to regain time to restore order among her forces, but she must be given no opportunity to recuperate and we must strike harder than ever.“ “Their request is an acknowledgment of weakness and clearly means that the Allies are winning the war,“ he maintained. To Pershing the very idea of an armistice was repugnant. Before the meeting, Foch had described to his staff his intention “to pursue the Feldgrauen with a sword at their backs“ to the last minute until an armistice went into effect. Stop the hostilities this very day.“ The appeal fell on deaf ears. “For God’s sake, Monsieur le Marechal,’ Erzberger pleaded, “do not wait for those seventy-two hours. On average, 2,250 troops on all sides were dying on the Western Front every day. Foch informed Erzberger that he had seventy-two hours to obtain the consent of his government to the Allies’ terms, or the war would go on. The translator droned on through thirty-four conditions, the last of which blamed Germany for the war and demanded it pay reparations for all damage caused. Though the German people already faced starvation, the Allies intended to paralyze the enemy’s transportation by continuing its naval blockade and confiscating 5,000 locomotives, 150,000 railway cars, and 5,000 trucks. The next demand threw the German delegates into despair. Germany was also to be stripped of heavy armaments, including 5,000 artillery pieces, 25,000 machine guns, and 2,000 airplanes. Foch’s interpreter read aloud the Allied conditions, which struck the Germans like hammer blows: All occupied lands in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France - plus Alsace-Lorraine, held since 1870 by Germany - were to be evacuated within fourteen days the Allies were to occupy Germany west of the Rhine and bridgeheads on the river’s east bank thirty kilometers deep German forces had to be withdrawn from Austria-Hungary, Romania, and Turkey Germany was to surrender to neutral or Allied ports 10 battleships, 6 battle cruisers, 8 cruisers, and 160 submarines. No proposals, perhaps, but he did have demands. Marines killed crossing the Meuse River in the final hours as “frightful.“ Congressman Fuller closed his letter to Pershing asking for “a real frank, full answer to the question as to whether American lives were needlessly wasted.“ Livermore lamented “the little crosses over the graves of the colored lads who died a useless death on that November morning.“ He further described the loss of U.S. ![]() ![]() on November 11 and had been ordered to launch its final charge at 10:30 a.m. Livermore, former operations officer of the 167th Field Artillery Brigade of the black 92nd Division, stating that that force had been engaged since 5 a.m. Just days later, however, the congressman forwarded to Pershing a letter from a constituent with a cover note saying, “I have been deluged with questions on this subject.“ The enclosed letter had been written to Fuller by George K. Pershing answered with his customary crisp confidence: Fuller of Massachusetts, deferentially posed a provocative query: ‘This question is somewhat irrelevant to the matter under discussion,’ Fuller began, ‘but I would like to ask General Pershing if American troops were ordered over the top on the other side on the morning of the day when under the terms of the Armistice firing was to cease … and that those troops who were not killed or wounded marched peacefully into Germany at 11 o’clock. However, a Republican committee member, Alvan T. The encounter was amicable and respectful since members were dealing with the officer who had led America to victory in the Great War. ![]()
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