COURSE OF THE WAR IN THE WEST

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2326, 7 December 1914, Page 5

COURSE OF THE WAR IN THE WEST

FRENCH OFFICIAL REVIEW • GERMANS T.OSE 120,000 MEN AT YPKES > ByTelsgrftpl—Preisa ABSoolatlon-Copyrlslit ; (Reo. December 6, 3.50 p.m.) . • _ Paris, December 5. A French offioial bulletin has been issued sketching the course of the war : from the beginning to date. The violation of .Belgium, ,the bulletin states, showed that the main struggle would- occur in. the "north, and, we were unable to engage the enemy until the British came into' line. Therefore we sought to retain as many ' army corps as possible in Alsace and Lorraine. : x ... From September 8 onwards General Maunoury's new army's attack'against the German Right-began to take effect. The enemy shifted his front, thus presenting a' weak point to the British army, which crossed the Marne and came to gnps with the German flanfe. Meanwhile, General d'Esperey, with-'General Haunoury 'on tho wing, also crossed, and drove back the Germans, supporting the British on his left, with General Foch on his right. / It was upon this army that'i&e Germans sought to avenge the check to , their Rigljt, and from September 6 to 9' this force was compelled to face repeated attacks until the evening of the ninth, when its left, near Le Fere Ghampenoise took the Prussian Guard and another German corps on the • flank. This audacious manoeuvre decided the issue, and the Germans'were thrown further back. General Foch. entered Chalons-sur-Marno on Septem- ! ber 11. ■■ , - THE'RACE TO THE SEA. From September 13 onwards began the contest and real race to the sea. ITbe Germans had the advantage in their concentric front shortening the distance. Nevertheless, the. movement of their Right failed, and the victory :' of the Marne was confirmed! ■ ' . • ■ ' , General. Castelnau on September 20 formed a new army on General Mau.noury's left, and strongly established himself in the Lassigny, Roye, and Peronne district. General Maunoury's army entered the valley of the Aisne on September 30, occupying the region around the Arras line with a view of junotioning with the Dunkirk division, but the line waß still too thin. Sir John French instantly deoided to transfer the British from the Aisne to the vicinity of Lys. . The. Belgian Army from Antwerp, oovered by the British and French i Marines, arrived to strengthen the projected barrier in the Yser distriot. The , I British were unable to come into action before .October 20,-and 'the Belgians : ! were short of munitions, and therefore General Joffre entrusted to General ' Foch the task of co-ordinating the operations of the northern armies. Fresh reinforcements enabled him on November 12 to constitute the Franco-Belgian army under General Dourbal. Co-operating with the Belgians were the British between the sea aud Lys, against a dozen German army corps and upwards of ifour cavaliy divisions. ' GERMAN OFFENSIVE BROKEN. The Kaiser was present, _and his pr oclamations emphasised) the neoessity of'decisive blow'and' of reaching Dunkirk, Calais, or Boulogne along-the coast, or piercing the line towards Ypres and then declaring Belgium annexed. For three weeks the' Germans launched repeated furious attacks by dense . masses, but it-was obvious after November 12 that the balance was on, our side. We yielded not an inch, and held an impregnable position. The German offensive after a fortnight in November,was broken, the attacks weakened, and the artillery was less active. . lie battle of 1 Ypres cost the enemy 120,000 men. Never has an attack been so carefully prepared ami furiously delivered, or suffered a more complete check. ' The Kaiser witnessed l the repulse eastward of Reims, and a week later the ; repulse at Ypres. . . Our forces are now as large as at the outset of the and the qualify has enormously improved. All iire profoundly imbued with a .sense of superiority over the enemy, and absolute confidence of victory. The futile efforts of the Germans have exhausted their reserves, while the troops they are bringing up to-day are badly officered and badly treated. Russia is more and more asserting her superiority, and the German'halt in the East is doomed inevitably to become a retreati