FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1914. A TITANIC STRUGGLE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2228, 14 August 1914, Page 4

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1914. A TITANIC STRUGGLE

idea of- the stupendous character of the present European war may be gained from ° the fact that Germany has already placed .over a million men; in the field for the purpose of invading France, to-say nothing of her defensive armies on the- southern frontier of France and on the Russian frontier in the East. This huge army of fighting men is about equal in numbers to the whole population of New Zealand—men, women, and children. France has an army of something like the same numerical strength in readiness to resist the attack, and when we add the British and Belgian troops, we get a total of not much less than two and a half million soldiers engaged in-the north-western side of the . war area. On the eastern frontiers Russia is piling up her forces, and Germany lias to provide another, huge army to meet them; though no precise information as to the numbers of men engaged oh'the RussoGerman border line has so far been received. Austria' also has an enormous force participating in the-con-flict, and the whole military strength of Servia and Montenegro has been brought to bear to repel Austrian aggression, and if possible- to carry the' war into Austrian territory. In in the history of the. world liave such vast numbers of men been engaged. ' Probably over four million men are Actually at the/front, while the total available war strength of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) is nearly 9j million men', and Austria and Germany have between them a ' military (strength of about eight millions. Compared with this Titanic struggle previous wars may well be considered puny affairs. In the Crimean Wai- the allied British, French, and Turkish forces only numbered 58,0*00; 'men, and the Russians had about 50,000 men in tho field,- the total number engaged in the war being 108,000. In * tho Franco-Prussian War of 1870 the French Army consisted of 300~000 men, while the Prussian forces numbcired 640,000, less .than a million men altogether taking part ;in tho conflict. In the RussoJapanese War each of the combatants placed about half a million soldiers in tho field, and it is estimated that 600,000 men took part in tbo Battle of Mukden, which is supposed to bo the greatest battle which has ever been fought as far as numbers are concerned. The present war com-' pletcly overshadows all previous conflicts betwen nations both as regards the size of the'armies engaged and the magnitude of the issues involved, •M'ith the exception perhaps of the issues- at stake in the Napoleonic campaigns, which included a whole series of wars, extending over a period of about twenty years. The present war stands out as the greatest in history, not only on account of the enormous number of men .taking part in it, but also because of the deadlinoss of the weapons in iisft both on sea and land. The methods of -warfare liavc greatly changed -since the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. During the intervening period science and invention havo brought into existence the most terrible iustruments of destruction that the world .ha« e>er known' and in 4 addition, they have

given tho aid of aeroplanes and airships. The Dreadnought is Quito, a modern idea, and the appearance of submarine craft has made sea lighting a different tiling from what it was forty years ago. A recent authority tells us that the science of destruction has been developed "to so high a degree that, broadly speaking, no artifice of defence can avail against the weapons of offence. The gun can pierce the _armour; the torpedo can sink the" sliip. It is probably only a question of time before tho offens'ivo clement becomes annihilating." The weapons of land warfare havo been improved just as .muoh as those used by fleets against fleets. More powerful explosives havo been '.discovered, and both the range and mechanical perfection of the guns have been increased. A great advance was made in 1871 when the breech-loading -Mar-tini-Henry _ rifle came into uso, and the invention! of the magazine gun ■ marked another step forward. Then came the T,ee-Metford, • followed by other improvements, out of which the rifles now in use havo been evolved. The experiences of the Franco-Prussian War gave the inventors much. to.think about from the artillery point.of vtew. The quick-firing gun soon appeared, and it has been gradually niado more reliable and effective. As a result of the -lessons learned during the Boer War, heavy -> ordnance, which had gone- out •of fashion, was reintroduced into field armies. Field and fortress artillery has also been made more perfect during recent years. It is quite certain that in the present war all 'the latest ideas in the art of warfare and the most deadly weapons of destruction will be in use. Length of range a.nd rapidity of fire are tho principal factors to be considered. To show how things have progressed in these respects, it may bo mentioned that during an invasion of Italy in 1494 the 'firing was so slow that the damage caused by one shot could be repaired before the next was fired; and, as regards range, even at Waterloo only 1200 yards separated the opposing force's at tho beginning of the battlq, while they approached to. within 200 "or 300 yards- without suffering serious loss from cither musketry or gun-fire. To-day the French guns and ; ammunition are quite as good,' if not better, than those of the Germans. France is more prepared for war now than she was in 1870. Moreover, she has the assistance of Britain and Russia, and though Germany is backed up by Austria, and a great struggle may be expected, 1 the Kaiseb's army is not at all likely to repeat in 1911 its performances of forty-four years ago. 7 ■•■■■' . , ■