NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2255, 15 September 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

In the light of recent events we are able to appreciate the desperate nature of the risk which the German military commanders faced in pursuance of their plan to crush France by hurling an overwhelming force against her armies at express speed. The world has looked on in amazement at the terrific energy with 'which the German advance 'was pressed forward; it has been horrified by the terrible disregard for the colossal losses sustained by the. invading forces; and military experts have* been staggered by the manner in which the ordinarily accepted principles of warfare have been disregarded in the course of the execution of the German plan of campaign. Germany staked all on being able to crush France by striking quickly and with overwhelming weight. Everything waa sacrificed to this end. It regarded its huge army .as a machine—a splendidly efficient machine—and it. forgot that the parts which went to make up. that machine were human beings, with limited powers- of endurance. Men were marched- to death in massed formation;, they were hurried forward night and day in a state of exhaustion; lines of communication were but thinly guarded. For a time this policy succeeded. Then the strain began to be felt. The machine was a machine no longer, but a mass of men. The terrible Josses' sustained had their effect on the morale of the troops; supplies and ammunition could not bo transported with sufficient speed; tho forces were worn out with excessive marching and, most depressing of all, the Allies, though forced to retire, .refused to be broken, or demoralised b,y the terrific onslaughts hurled against them;.'. Again and again when tho Germans, at. fearful cost, won a new position, they found their enemy ready next clay to renew tho conflict .with- the same .dogged determination as had characterised their efforts on: the preceding day. The' Gorman commanders risked everything in order to be in a position to strike- a crushing blow at the Allies in France—and they failed. Their plans from the outset .have gone awry—first through the unexpected ' resistance of the Belgians, and later as the result of the magnificent fighting retirement of the Allies. ■. ' ■ ,

Having staked so much on a successful issue to their desperate plan of campaign, and having failed to sweep the Allies from the path to Paris, the German Armres are now in a- critical position. Their plans made no provision for defeat. The idea of the-Allies successfully taking the' offensive does not appear to have been seriously contemplated, and in consequence it seems impossible for the Kaiser's troops to extricate themselves from Franco without suffering further tremendous losses. The fortresses which they could not subdue on their inward march, and which they were content to mask, are now a source of deadly peril to their retirement. Their losses of munitions of war and supplies must add enormously to,their difficulties and cripple their efforts.' The Belgians still in the field and • operating on their flank must-embarrass and probably drive them further south into more difficult country. One message describing their _ situation pictures them as beinpr. jn a bottle-shaped position, and having to make their way out by means.of the neck of the linttk. So much for tho main army. The Cbown Prince's Army to the. east, which was reported to have been holding its own, is now stated also to be in retreat, and has thus β-fldnd to the pencr-1,1 peril of the situation from tho, Gorman point of view. Retirement has developed into retreat, and retreat into rout. The Angln-Frcnnh forces have triumphed all alonff the line, from Amiens in the north to St..'Die iii tho south, or roufhly speaking, over a front of ?<IO miles as the crow fiics. y The German invasion of Franco has oh clod in disaster.

Before passing from the western theatre of war the acfciml position of the forces at time of writing may be stated. A week ago the German main army ha-d advanced to within 20 miles of Paris. To-day its nearest force to Paris is at least SO miles distant. Roughly speaking, the northern army of invasion has been driven back to within about 30 or 40 miles of the. Belgian border, while -further' south tho French Have recaptured practically all the ■points of importance on the FrancoGerman frontier. In other words, in the north tho shattered German forces arc hurrying back to Germany by way of Belgium and Luxemburg, while further south they are retiring over the b'order direct into their own country at Lorraine. Tho northern army, howovcr, may be only at the beginning of its troubles, Tho Allies aro hot on its rear, and the • Belgians, who, as anticipated, have Heen 'reinforced with British troops (possibly tho Anglo-Indian force), arc-moving south to harass its lines of communication. Splendid as. has been the news of tho past few days, there may be even better tidings in store, although the Allies in following up the retreat of the enemy must avoid falling into errors which have ; brought " disaster on the Kaiser's

forces. They cannot afford to risk getting too far ahead of their supplies, and the condition of the roads and railways in the territory recently held by the Germans, is not likely to bo of the best for transport work." The stories of the fighting leading up to and following- on the Allies'* great victory show that the AngloFrench troops conducted themselves with magnificent dash and courage. The French Commander-in-Chief realising'the critical stage reached impressed on his troops that the fate of France was in their hands, ana exhorted them to die <at their posts rather than yield to the German advance. Only a few days earlier the Kaiser -had appealed to his troops to take Paris or die. How splendidly the Allied forces responded to the call. General Joffee himself tells us in his message of congratulation to the officers and men. It was deadly work on both sides, but the Germans, though they appear to have fought bravely enough, were lacking in tho spirit which stimulated the Allies. The great German war machine was out of gear—supplies were short, the men were weary, hungry, and dispirited;- while the Allies, despite' the hardships they had undergone, were as full of fight as ever. It -was a glorious victoryhard won and well , earned—and it may well bo that this great five days' struggle before Paris, in which at least a million and a half men are stated to have been engaged, has decided the fate of Europe for the next half century.

One of the' finest features of the war has been the high courage and tenacity shown by the Belgian troops in the face of tremendous odds, and under most distressing conditions. No other country has suffered from the war as Belgium has suffered, and no country gave less provocation.. From the outset the Belgians havy won the admiration of we wihok world by the unyielding front they, have presented throughout the stressful period whiSh has followed on the ruthless and unprovoked invasion of their territory by the Kaiser!s forces. It is indeed gratifying, therefore, to learn of the successes which are now attending the efforts of this gallant little army. . As.surmised by us a few d-ays ago, tne Belgians have been strengthened by a force of Biltish troops, probably landed at Ostend, and at latest advices this force had recaptured Brussels. No details are available at tho moment, but it is quite possible that the Anglo-Indian troops have been landed in Belgium, and are assisting in the operations now proceeding there. The Allied forces in Belgium ' are certain to hamper the German retreat, .and if in any strength may be able to turn the line of retirement further to ' the south than the point at which the Germans advanced through Belgium. If this proves possible, then it should enable the Anglo-French' forces to close in with the main body of the German Army now fleeing before them, and complete the utter rout 'of the great force which set out to crush France into submission to the Kaiser's arrogant will.

While tho Anglo-French troops are driving home their great victory in France, their Ally in the east has been, adding ;.f resn , triumphs to the growing'list of successes. Yesterday's news loft the Russian forces operating in Galicia (Austria) and llussian Poland engaged in. desperate fighting with a iorce of Austrians near Lemberg, and > furthor north with another force of Germans and Austrians, • the latter having been cut off in retreat after the Austrian reverse near Lublin. It was oxpected, acoording to the news sent us, that a further great victory for the Russian arms would result. That expectation has been fully realised. The Austro-German force has been defeated at Tomaszou and Krasnik, in Russian Poland, and between 50 and 70 miles to the north-west of Lemberg; while the Austrian force to the west of Lemberg has also been defeated. Altogether, nearly 100,000" prisoners were taken in these engagements," besides several hundred guns. We must rest content for the moment with these particulars, and tho intimation that the Russian victory is considered decisive. It is possible that fuller details may arrive after this page goes to press, but at the moment of writing it is not quite clear whether tho two engagements are all part of the one great battle or two separate battles. In any case,.it is a further heavy blow at the Austro-German Alliance. . .

The long silence concerning Naval happenings was broken yesterday by hints of a sea fight in the Baltic between German and -Russian warships, but up to tho present there has been no confirmation of this. With matters going wrong everywhere with his forces ashore, the Kaiser no doubt would be glad to ■ seize a chance at sea to hearten up his people by a success of any kind. The Russian Fleet is not a strong one, an,d it would not require a very large part of the German Fleet to account for it. In the circumstances it is unlikely that the Russians would venture on a trial of strength Unless the fleet sent against them was somewhere near their own in strength. The position is growing desperate for Germany, and the long idleness of her much-vaunted fleet cannot be without prejudicial effect on tho attitude of the German people towards tho war. This ere long may force the.hands of tho German naval' authorities, but at present there are no signs of the German Fleet venturing out to face the British vessels in tho North Sea,