PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2351, 6 January 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The statement that the Germans contemplate .another attempt on Warsaw, if true, is a striking testimony to the success of the Russian strategy, in the Eastern campaign, for it suggests that the Germans are tied down to a single course of action, and one that so far has led to no bettor result than a crop of failures and disasters. The Germans have been trying for weeks to get to Warsaw. In the great Battle of the Four Rivers, now reported to have terminated in a decisive Russian victory, they sacrificed lives recklessly in repeated attempts to pierce the Russian defending lines, and it does not appear that they were ever, at any point, within measurable distance of success. Their desperate attacks, repeated- day after day for weeks, were beaten back time after time until they desisted in sheer exhaustion. Some fighting appears to be still going on along the line of rivers extending south through Poland from the Lower Vistula, but as compared with the operations of the recent battle it appears to be quite unimportant. The Russians are in secure possession of the positions west of Warsaw which the enemy fought so hard to obtain, and there is no reason to oxpect that they will be any more shaken by a attack than they were by the first. ■ ■ I ■• ■' ■ * . »■ . » ,\ . These, however, are only the immediate aspects of the position. The German offensive, having Warsaw for its objective, whioh collapsed so disastrously in the Battle of the Four Rivers, was-intended mainly to relieve pressuro on other parts of the Eastern line, and to enforce a Rus : sian concentration in defence of Warsaw, which would have delayed or stopped the advance towards Cra- ' cow, and the frontier of Silesia. No doubt also it was hoped that the offensive against Warsaw would tend to relieve the Russian pressure upon the Austrians in the south. Those German objects have certainly not been attained. A large Russian force has necessarily been engaged in repelling the advance on Warsaw, but this has by no means seriously restricted activities of the first importance in other parts of the line. While decisively repelling the German offensive west of Warsaw, the Russians have also moved for-, ward along the Lower Vistula to a position whioh enables them to threaten the German communications, they have advanced beyond the Nida, which runs into the Upper Vistula in Southern Poland,. and they are sweeping forward in •Western Galicia. Cracow, which may be regarded as a mile-post •on the road to Silesia, is in imminent danger of investment. At the same time the Russians have crumpled up the Austrian forces which sought to advance against them from the Carpathians, and are on the point of invading Hungary, if they, have not already entered that territory. # * » *

In its principal purpose of holding the .Russians in check and restricting the range of their operations, the German offensivo against Warsaw has thus already failed. In addition, the Gorman armies south of the Lower Vistula and in Central Poland, are now in a much less secure position as regards lines of communication than when v , their offensive was initiated. At that time tho Th'orn-Lowicz railway, • which' leaves the Prussian frontier close to whore it is intersected by tho Vistula, and runs south-east into Poland, was safe and undisturbed. Now, according to recent reports, the Russians are preparing to cross tho Vistula at Plock in order to threaten the railway which lies twenty miles away to the south. A message published to-day states a supposition that the six German Army Corps, recently withdrawn from-the front west of Warsaw, are to be employed in guarding the Thorn-Lowicz railway. The suggestion wears an air of distinct probability. t * * *

In a [Word, therefore,' if their intentions have been correctly • interpreted, the Germans are proposing, in spite of threatened lines of communication, to renew the attack upon their enemy in positions which under'a severe test have proved invulnerable. They are proposing to persist in an offensive which has already signally failed to create the diversion intended. If this is the actual position, then matters are going very prosperously indeed with the Russians. Still, it must be recognised that should the German attack on Warsaw by any chance make any progress, it would seriously threaten the Russian line of communications, and that a large force of tho Tsars troops must therefore Ge kept in this locality.

The feverish activity of_ preparation reported/at Cracow is a sufficient indication that the defenders of the place recognise the seriousness of their position. The Austrians are apparently in as poor heart here as elsewhere, tor it is mentioned that they have declared their intention of blowing up the city if they- are mMs *s hßii-i t,)ie |prt«fts. Whitfc wyfeu J!5Sw sj dqiflg BO is

not clear, but the intention suggests an expectation of defeat. The enterprise of the Eussians is indicated in the fact that they intercepted a body of German troops ' hurrying from' Central Poland to reinforce tho defenders of Cracow, and defeated it with heavy loss, though they were at first beaten off. The locality of this engagement was apparently in the region of the Pilica, aboufc_ GO miles north of Cracow. Notwithstanding the despondency of the Ausirians Cracow should be able to offer a fairly stout defence, but the example of Przemysl suggests that it is unlikely to long delay the Russian advance upon the Silesian frontier, thirty-six miles further on. * * * * Definite news of /the' invasion of Hungary is given by tho Daily 'Mail correspondent at Petrograd, who states that one Russian army is pursuing the Austrians on the Hungarian'side of the Carpathians while another is approaching the frontier of Transylvania, having practically subdued all opposition in Bukovina, at the, eastern extremity of Galicia. At. the Usyok Pass the Russians have captured an Aiutrian battalion, and an Austrian general and his staff, but it is apparently through some of the easier passes further east that they have entered' Hungary. Their line now stretchos on the left through Galicia practically to the eastern extremity of Bukovina, where ifc joins the frontier of Rumania. * * * * y A definite gain by the Allies reported to-day is tie capture" of Steinbach, up Upper (or Southern) Alsace. Only the other day the Germans officially denied that a single house in Steinbach iad been lost, but now they -admit that tho whole village has fallen into, the hands of their enemies. _ The intimation that progress continues north-west of Ponta-Mousson indicates that' a great part of the Argonne region is now clear of Germans. Pont-a-Mousson is on the Moselle, twenty miles south-west of the German fortress of Metzj. and ten miles away from the- nearest point on., the Franco-Belgian frontier. The operations north-west, of Pont-a-Mousson must therefore have, carried the Allies, at this point, very close to the frontier.- The Allies appear to be maintaining theiT superiority? in artillery, for success against German batteries is reported at different? points' on the line.

A solemn note 'of warning is sounded by the London Times on the subject of recruiting, and, taking a serious view of the problem of raising a second army of a million men, it invites consideration of "the possibly necessary alternative of conscription." _ It goes without saying that conscription,"whether it is necessary or not, would be a very unpalatable alternative to the British nation.- If there is no other way of getting the necessary men conscription will, ■of course, have to- be adopted, but it is open to so many, objections that it will certainly be adopted only as a last resort.

■The best way to avert the necessity of resorting to conscription would.perhaps be to publish broadcast a "candid statement of the number of men required, and. the manner in which the demand has been met. The Times itself has consistently urged the British Government to trust the people by making full and frank disclosures as to the progress and fortunes of the war holding that the nation will not fail to rouse itself to the necessary exertion if it is fully acquainted with the magnitude and imminence of the emergency which'exists, and the same argument will apply to recruiting, . ..-' *',■ # .- *. W - - I

Consckiption in Great Britain might commend itself to a very largo proportion of the population in the present dangerous emergency, but its adoption would none the less-intro-duce a note of discord which has .been happily absent from the conduct' of the war up to the - present date! Even the spirit of loyalty which is general throughout the-na-tion might not altogether prevent an agitation against the innovation, and every possible effort should be made to avoid such a state of affairs. Some unhappy comparisons would no doubt be drawn, if conscription had to be . resorted to in the Mother Country, while the Dominions were able each to raise their quota of men for the front without compulsion. It has to be remembered' also that conscription would necessarily to some extent reduce the quality of the Army. At the present moment every man who is fighting for the British Empire, on land or sea, is a volunteer, and the positive advantages incidental to dispensing with pressed men are too great and valuable _to bo lightly relinquished, V

In anv case, The Times is prok .bly looking well ahead. It is truo hat we. have been at war for five nonths and that the nation is Only leginning its task, in .-the actual heatre of war,_ but in these five nonths the British Government and he nation have not been idle. It v&s announced the other day that .ix new larmies had been formed, imounting in the aggregate to -more than half a million men, and probibly the forces required to bring the .otal up to a.million will shortly ie ready for service. This mighty irmy has! had to be built up largely >ut of raw material, and in itself •eprcsents.a-great national achievenent. _ The forces provided by tho have also to be. reckoned vith. It is about tho secojid army if a million men that The Times is Joncerned, No doubt it is very lecesßary that the Imperial Governnent should explain how the required numbers are to be obtained, find give an assurance, if it is able, that'the volunteer system ca& bo relied upon to produce tnese numbers, for this would amount simply to taking the nation into its confidence, and judging by what has already been accomplished, it is not at all likely that the nation would fail to respond. It is, at any rate, too soon to take up any dogmatic stand on the subject' of conscription. -.

"- Instead of being in a/position to attack Egypt, the Turks seem to be suffering from increasing panic on the subject of home defence. To-day it is reported that the attack on Egypt has been definitely abandoned (it does not seem to have ever been seriously undertaken), and that tho Turkish troops in Syria have been recalled to the Asiatic side of tho Straits, presumably under an apprehension that.the Allies may force the Dardanelles. The Sultan and Porte arc contemplating a removal to Brusa, a town in Turkey in Asia,' 60 miles south of Constantinople and ten miles from.the Sea of Marmora coast. . , » " * * * Messages regarding (he fighting in Trans-Caucasia' are somewhat confuting, Indications have been recently, gixep. feat ••'tjw'Turks have iu.,

curred defeat at the hands of the Russians on tho Turkish side of the Caucasus, but one message published to-day states that "Russian' authorities" hold that tho Turkish operations in Trans-Caucasia represent not only a determined attempt to regain Ears', but an apparently concerted plan of raising the Mohammedans in the Caucasus. Since Kars is in Russia, fifty miles north of tho frontier, it would be interesting to know who the ''Russian authorities" are before accepting the story. There is no need to doubt the statement that as soldiers the Turks under German leadership are displaying exceptional qualities. As fighters the Turks have an established reputation. ."

Reports tell of unrest in Rumania, stimulated by the. near approach of the Russian forces advancing on Hungary, and an increasing disposition to join the Allies. In England and France it seems to be confidently held that affairs in the Balkans are not at all likely to take a turn unfavourable to the Allies. A London message published to-day pictures Bulgaria, Rumania, and Greece as being all ready and eager to.enter .the war, but solely with the idea of aggrandising themselves, at the expense' of tho tottering • Austrian and Ottoman Empires.

Me. Roosevelt is hammering away at his denunciation of the United States Government for its failure to carry out its obligations under The Hague Convention, and in his latest utterance has dealt with the subject very frankly indeed. He goes so far as to declare that the United States is maintaining an ignoble' peace, and 'regarding with indifference frightful ravages' against an unoffending country, which, nations (the United States, of course,- among them) have sworn to preserve inviolate. Mr. Roosevelt's interpretation of Amerioan responsibilities under The Hague Convention gains, additional force from the fact that he was President of the United States when the treaty was made and ratified. This discounts very seriously the attempts which have been made to show that America is freed from responsibility by reason of the reservations (based 'on the Monroe Doctrine) with which its delegates signed the Convention. Mr. Roosevelt insists N that America has failed in. its duty,'and he sums up the feeble foreign policy of the Democratic Administration as a "cult of'cowardice" which is "utterly oontemptible." It will be interesting to observe how this bold declaration is received in the United States.