The War Rages On^909

To cross the sleeping green between.

It seems you inwardly grin as you pass

Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes,

Less chance than you for life,

Bonds to the whims of murder,

Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,

The torn fields of France.

What do you see in our eyes

At the shrieking iron and flame

Hurled through still heavens?

What quaver—what heart aghast?

Poppies whose roots are in man’s veins

Drop, and are ever dropping;

But mine in my ear is safe—

Just a little white with the dust.

The winter of 1916—1917 was bleak. There seemed few families on either
side who had not lost a relative or friend at the front. On the Allied side,
there was some cheer when Romania joined the war in exchange for the
promise of some Hungarian territory with a significant Romanian popula­
tion once the Central Powers had been defeated. But Falkenhayn, removed
from the western front in disgrace after Verdun, quickly defeated the
Romanian army. The war eroded the resources and morale of Bulgaria and
Turkey. In December 1916, both states issued declarations expressing will­
ingness to discuss terms for peace. The following March, Emperor Charles
I (ruled 1916—1918) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who assumed the
throne after Francis Joseph’s death in November 1916, sent the Allies a
peace proposal, without having consulted Germany. It included a willing­
ness to recognize French claims to Alsace-Lorraine. But talk of a compro­
mise peace was hushed and, at least in Vienna, deemed unpatriotic.
Unlike the French and British, the Germans realized that victory by
breakthrough was extremely unlikely, if not impossible. To the Allies, a com­
promise peace seemed out of the question given that enemy troops were
occupying much of the north of France. The complete withdrawal of Ger­
man troops required a total victory that would guarantee France’s future
security. Increasingly criticized for the staggering casualty rate, Joffre was
replaced by General Robert Nivelle (1856-1924) as commander in chief
of the French forces in 1916. Nivelle insisted that a breakthrough on the
western front could be achieved.
In Britain, Lloyd George became prime minister in December 1916. Even
after staggering losses on the Somme, he agreed with British commanders
that military victory was possible if the Allies cooperated more closely. The
British government thus rejected a peace note sent by Germany on Decem­
ber 12, the aim of which was to force an end to the war by splitting apart
Britain and France.