By this time Austria-Hungary was in the throes of dissolution; independent republics were being set up by the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Jugo-Slavs, and even the German Austrians. These revolutions were hastened by the overwhelming victory of the Italians in the second battle of the Piave. Their attack began October 24 on the mountain front, but soon the Allied forces under General Diaz (dee´ahss) crossed the river and cut through the lines of the fleeing Austrians. In the capture of large numbers of prisoners and guns the Italians took full vengeance for their defeat of the preceding year. So hopeless, indeed, was the situation for the Austrians that they too accepted an armistice that was practically a surrender (November 4). GERMAN RETREAT IN THE WEST.--After the Germans had been driven back to their old lines in France, there was danger that the contest might settle down to the old form of trench warfare. But the intricate defenses of the Hindenburg line, in some cases extending to a depth of ten miles from the front trenches, did not prove strong enough to withstand the American and Allied advance. Foch attacked the line from each end and also in the center. In the north, by October 20, Belgian and British troops had recaptured all the Belgian coast, with its submarine bases; and the British had taken the important cities of Lens and Lille, the former valuable on account of its coal mines. In the center British and French troops broke through to the important points of Cambrai, St. Quentin (săn-kahn-tăn´) and Laon (lahn), while farther east the French and Americans began an advance along the Meuse River, threatening to attack the German line in the rear.