In September 1918 the Allies are on the offensive on every front. British and Belgian troops attack the Ypres salient and recapture Passchendaele. To the south, the American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing clears the St. Mihiel salient, and then turns north to attack along the River Meuse and through the Argonne Forest. Launching the Fourth Liberty Bond drive with a speech in New York City, President Wilson calls for a “secure and lasting peace” enforced by a League of Nations. He sets forth five “particulars” designed to achieve that goal, representing his view of “this government’s own duty with regard to peace.” Three days later he goes before the Senate and asks it to approve the proposed woman suffrage amendment to the Constitution, already approved by the House of Representatives, as a “war measure.” British forces under General Allenby advance in Palestine. Americans join French and British units in the “Polar Bear Expedition,” designed to protect war supplies stockpiled in the Russian Arctic. An Allied offensive in Macedonia leads to an armistice with Bulgaria. Germany and Austria-Hungary are rocked with unrest and protests calling for an end to the war. At month’s end, faced with military defeat and loss of support in the Reichstag, German Chancellor Georg von Hertling is forced to resign. In the United States, the baseball season ends early because of the war. In the World Series, which begins and ends in September for the only time in its history, the Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Red Sox will win their next World Series championship in 2004. ...read more
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Somme American Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is located between Bony and Le Catelet in the modern region of Hauts-de-France. During the Great War this region was called by its ancient name, Picardy.
