Portugal already had given assurances that she would throw her army to
the support of Great Britain should she be asked to do so. A great
diplomatic _coup_--a great victory for British statesmanship--had cleared
the way for the entrance of Rumania and Greece into the war on the side
of the Allies. This _coup_ had been to gain from Bulgaria assurances that
Bulgaria would not go to the support of Germany should Rumania and
Greece take up arms.

The Italian populace, also, was clamoring for war. In Rome demonstrations
against Germany had become frequent and violent. It appeared to be only a
question of time until Italy also would hurl her millions of trained
fighting men into the field in support of the Allies.

From Ostend the great battle line extended due south to Noyen, where
it branched off to the southeast. South of Noyen French soil had
been almost cleared of the Germans. Alsace had in turn been invaded
by the French, who had penetrated to within twelve miles of
Strasbourg. The French troops also had progressed to within eight
miles of Metz, in Lorraine.

The forward move by the southern army of France had been sudden, and the
Germans had been forced to give way under the desperation and courage of
the French troops.

Once before, in the earlier days of the war, the French had reached Metz
and Strasbourg, but had been hurled back by overwhelming numbers of the
enemy and forced to retreat well into France. Then the German line in
Alsace and Lorraine had been weakened to hurl denser masses of Germans
upon the British and Belgians in the north.