by Richard van Pelt, WWI Correspondent

In an earlier post I compared World War I, the Great War as it was and for some still remains, as a war of two metaphors. The initial metaphor, starting with the assassination of the Archduke at the end of June, and working its way to the ferocity of the opening months can be described as an earthquake; at the end of the year, the war has settled into an endemic state, sapping the strength of the belligerents while occasionally breaking into fevers of activity and destruction.

The  headlines in the Capital Journal illustrate the changes that were taking place:

BATTLE AND STORM RAGING TOGETHER IN BELGIUM TODAY
Howling Gale and blinding Storm of Sleet and Snow Does Not Check Fighting
GERMANS CHANGE METHOD OF ATTACK
Dig Their Way Forward and Make Attack by the Use of Hand Grenades

“SAFETY FIRST” IS FRENCH SLOGAN IN PRESENT CAMPAIGN
French Commanders Lost Their Heads in Beginning of War, Says Expert
SEVERAL MISTAKES MADE BY GENERALS
Present Plan Is to Advance Slowly, Making Every Foot Gained Safe

FIGHTING FIERCE IN RUSSIAN POLAND NEITHER A WINNER
Russians Claim Germans Have Been Forced Back at Least 20 Miles
BATTLE HAS REACHED THE CRITICAL STAGE
At the Same Time It Is Admitted that Neither Side Has Made Decisive Gains

The United States was a neutral power until her entry into the war in 1917. As understood by readers of the paper this meant simply not taking sides. Though neutral, the American economy relied upon trade with other nations, trade which meant shipping goods bought and to be sold on the high seas. When a merchant vessel or passenger liner left port, belligerent powers would be interested in the vessel’s destination and cargo. Coal or copper bound for the United States would be treated much differently than the same product destined for one of the belligerents. The German embassy placed the United States on notice, as described in “Contraband of War:”

Washington, Dec. 5 – The German embassy made it plain today that Germany does not regard the seizure of coal by German warships from American and neutral merchantmen to be any more violation of American neutrality that England’s seizure of copper aboard such vessels. It was stated that coal and copper are contraband and that the belligerents have a right to seize them on the high seas whenever they can.

The American consul at Valparaiso was still investigating the transfer of coal from the American steamship Sacramento, which sailed from San Francisco, to a German warship.