War Cyclopedia - K
Kaiser Wilhelmsland. A German colony in the northeastern part of New Guinea; taken from Germany by Australian troops in September, 1914.
Kaiserism. Kaiserism implies that the State as swayed by the monarch is supreme and is, therefore, by its very nature, relieved from the moral obligations incumbent upon private individuals. Accordingly, if the State., the Kaiser and his officials-affirm anything to be for its interest, other considerations, even the most sacred, are obliterated, and, beyond all else, the inviolability of human personality, whether in an individual or in a free people. is set at naught. Should any person or any group object, the penalty is spiritual or material destruction, or both. One need not go further than the declarations of the German Emperor himself for a definition of the doctrine of Kaiserism: "Only one is master In this country. That is I. Who opposes me I shall crush to pieces. All of you have only one will, and that is my will; there is only one law, and that is m~ law." See Autocracy; "Hun."
Kamerun. A German colony in Africa north of the Congo River; taken by AngloLBe1gian~Fre1ICh forces in February, 1916, and held by France and Great Britain jointly.
Kerensky, Alexander F. (1881- ). Russian Premier, July-November, 1917. A lawyer, who had distinguished himself by defending workmen, political offenders, and Jews, he entered the Duma in 1912 as deputy for Saratov, and mercilessly attacked the old régime. As leader of the Socialist Labor party he was naturally prominent in the revolution of March,
"Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes." The name selected for a new European State proposed to be formed out of the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro and the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Croatia-Slavonia, Carinthia, and BosniaHerzegovina. Despite certain local .differences of religion and historical tradition, the inhabitants of the entire region constitute one people, the southern, or Jugo-Slav, and have of late years become distinctly conscious of the fact. On July 27, 1917, representatives from the Austrian provinces and the Prime Minister of Serbia, M. Pasitch, signed an agreement at Corfu for the constitution of the new State under the rule of the King of Serbia. Since the territory involved is at present occupied by the Central Powers, the realization of this plan depends upon the outcome of the war. See Bo.snia-HerzegoVinu; Croatia; "Drang nach~ Osten"; Magyariza4iofl; Pan-Slavism.
Kitchener, Earl, of Khartum (1850-1916). England's greatest figure In the war in its first years. His principal services to his country prior to the outbreak of hostilities with the German Empire were performed in Egypt and South Africa. His reconquest of the Sudan caused him to be raised to the peerage as Baron Kitchener of Khartum, a name chosen In recognition of his services in leading the expedition up the Nile to that place; be also received the thanks of Parliament and a money grant of E30,000. Lord Kitchener played a distinguished part in the South African War, being commander in chief in 1900-1902; subsequently for some years he commanded in India. He became a viscount in 1902 and an earl in 1914. His military rank had become lieutenant general in 1899, general in 1902, and field marshal in 1909. In 1914 the nation turned to Earl Kitchener with one accord as its greatest and most competent military leader. He became Secretary of State for War. He foresaw the difficult character and the duration of the conflict, and successfully called into being the formidable forces in the field long known as "Kitchener's army." He went down at sea on H. M. S. Hampshire when that vessel was destroyed off the Orkney Islands by a German mine or a torpedo on June 5, 1910, while bound for Archangel on a special mission to Russia. A legend is current that lie still lives, in captivity in Germany.
Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus represent the Catholic communicants, who will constitute perhaps 35 per cent of the new army. While this society is a fraternal organization, It will sustain exactly the same relation to time~ military~ training camps as is sustained by the Young Men's Christian Association, and will hold no meetings to which all the troops in the camp are not invited, regardless of religious or other preference. A representative has just been sent to France to initiate among the American soldiers activities similar to those undertaken in the training camps at home. The work Is In charge of a Committee on War Activities, 730 Woodward Building, Washington, D. C.
Kola Bay. A Russian port of the Arctic Ocean, to which a new railway has been constructed since the outbreak of the war,
In order that Russia may import supplies more freely from western Europe and America. Its nearness to the Gulf Stream makes it accessible for a longer period than Archangel. Owing to the blockade of the Baltic by the German fleet, these ports are Russia's only means of direct communication with the Allies. Kornilov, Gen. L. G. Siberian Cossack general. At the outbreak of the war he commanded one of the armies in the invasion of Galicia. During the later Russian retreat from Galicia he was captured by the Austrians, but managed to escape. When the revolution broke out in March, 1917, he was appointed commandant at Petrograd, from which he was detailed to the southwestern army under Brusilov, and commanded one of the armies in the advance of July, 1917. After Brusilov's resignation he was made commander in chief of the Russian army, and inaugurated a series of strong military measures against traitors and slackers in the army. In September, dissatisfied with the attitude of the Provisional Government, he began a march on Petrograd with the object of establishing a dictatorship. But the movement collapsed, and Gen. Kornilov was held for trial as a rebel. The whole affair, however, is still shrouded in great obscurity; there seems to have been a misunderstanding between the general and Premier Kerensky, and it is fairly clear that Kornilov aimed simply at restoring discipline in the army and had no intention of organizing a revolution in favor of the deposed Czar. See Russian. Revolution..
"Kriegs-Raison." The German term for military necessity, which in the German view always prevails over any rules of civilized warfare in case of conflict. In the words of the German War Book, "What is permissible includes every means of war without which the object of the war can not be obtained." With this should be compared the principle stated in the American code, that only such measures may be adopted against the enemy as "are lawful according to the modern laws and customs of war." This, also, is the British and French doctrine. See "Frightfulness"; Hague and Geneva Conventions, German Violations; "Notwendigkeit"; War, German View.
Krupp, Alfred (1812-1887). Head of the great iron and steel manufacturing establishments in Essen, Prussia. He and his son Frederick Alfred Krupp, who died in 1902, were constantly used by the German Imperial Government in the development of Its plans for world mastery. Munitions of war of improved types have been invented and manufactured in the Krupp plants, which, from the Essen district, have branched out into other places. Already in 1902 the various Krupp works employed 43,100 persons, 24,000 being in and around Essen. The younger Krupp's heir was a daughter, Bertha, now for some years the principal owner, whence the name "Big Bertha" which is applied to a type of large shell hurled from a heavy German gun against the British lines in Flanders.
Kühlmann, Richard von (18 73- ). German Foreign Minister. As councilor of the German embassy in London be is believed to have advised Berlin that Great Britain would not enter a European war. When his prediction was falsified he was transferred to Holland and later was ambassador to Turkey. With the change of government In Germany in 1917 Dr. von Kuhlmann was promoted to the Foreign Office.
"Kultur." Kultur indicates the whole mass of customs, conventions, usages, laws, institutions, and language from which the Prussian people derives its outlook, and in which it expresses the dominant characteristic differences distinguishing it from other peoples. A Kulturnmensch (culture-man) is not primarily a distinctive individual but the exponent of self-conscious national tendencies. Accordingly, Kultur has come to Indicate (since about 1880) the type of civilization for which Germany now stands sponsor, thanks mainly to the leadership of Prussia. And we have abundant German authority for its precise implications. The Kaiser has himself struck the keynote of Kultur. "Great ideals have become for us Germans a permanent possession, while other nations have lost them. The German nation is now the only people left which is called upon to protect, cultivate, and promote these grand ideals." These grand ideals peculiar to Germany are, as stated by one scholar, (1) national egotism, founded upon (2) obedience, induced by (a) a disciplined bureaucratic autocracy, (b) a disciplinary division into social classes wherein every man finds his place, and (c) a disciplinary system of professionalized instruction which produces multitudes of "efficients" who labor in every conceivable line of activity; the whole scheme is completely justified by (3) material success and (4) military power; (5) on account of these successes, Germany has the right to force this system upon other peoples, who are either to be Germanized by "penetration's or compelled to become economic vassals of Germany; that is, tools to be used for her "world supremacy."
"Kultur "versus Civilization. (1) "Must Kultur rear its domes over mountains of corpses, oceans of tears, and the death rattle of the conquered? Yes, it must. . . . The might of the conqueror is the highest law before which the conquered must bow." (Karl A. Kuhn, in Die wahren Ursachen des Kriegs, 1914, p. 11.) (2) "Civilization does not rest upon war. It rests upon peace, . . . upon those things which men achieve by cooperation and mutual interest." (President Wilson, National Ser'7ice School, Washington, May 6, 1916.)
" Kultur," Mission of. "Do not let us forget the civilizing task which the decrees of Providence have assigned to us. Just as Prussia was destined to be the nucleus of Germany, so the regenerated Germany shall be the nucleus of a future empire of the west. And in order that no one shall be left in doubt, we proclaim from henceforth that our continental nation has a right to the sea, not only to the North Sea, but to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Hence we intend to absorb one after another all the provinces which neighbor on Prussia. We shall successively annex Denmark, Holland, Belgium, northern Switzerland, then Trieste and Venice, finally northern France, from the Sambre to the Loire. This program we fearlessly pronounce. It is not the work of a madman. The empire we Intend to found will be no Utopia. We have ready to hand the means of founding it and no coalition in the world can stop us." (Bronsart von Schellendorf, quoted by H. A. L. Fisher in The War, Its Causes and 188ue8, London, 1914, p. 16.) See Conquest and IC ultur; William II.
Kut-el-Amara. A city in Mesopotamia about 100 miles below Bagdad, occupied by the British in November, 1915, during an unsuccessful advance upon Bagdad. The British force under Gen. Townshend was besieged for 143 days. In spite of a Russian column proceeding from Erzerum to Kermanshah looking toward a junction with the British at Bagdad or Kut, and in spite of a British relief force moving upon Kut from the south, Gen. Townshend was starved Into surrender April 28-29, 1916. The city was reoccupied by the British under Gen. Maude, February 24, 1917.
