PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2431, 9 April 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

War news from the Western theatre _ to-day relates mainly to tho continued advance of the French in the Woevre district between Verdun and Metz. Additional hill positions have been captured on the direct line between the two fortresses, and the Germans have also been dislodged from positions in the rugged country further south. Very brief reference is made to the achievements of a German detachment which succeeded in crossing the Yser, but a definite assurance is given that the attackers were captured. The. locality of tho crossing must have been in Northern Flanders since the capture was raado by Belgian troops. It appears rather strange that the Germans should have succeeded in crossing the strongly defended river along which the Allies are aligned in Belgium, but as tho report runs, the affair was of no great importance. * * * *

Thb tenor of a semi-official Vienna message, coming by way of Amsterdam, suggests that the Austro-Hun-garian Government is preparing the mind of its public for untoward developments. Emphasis is laid upon the' fact that the increased violence of fighting in the Carpathians synchronises with "the advent of fine weather. The Austrians have undoubtedly been greatly assisted in their defcnce of the mountain lino by winter conditions in the snow-filled passes, which have made Russian progress difficult and enormously accentuated the problems of transport, and if they have found it difficult to maintain their resistance under these conditions, the outlook for the Russians with the advent of fine weather is very hopeful.

A successful invasion of Hungary is again reported to-day, by the Bailu Mail's correspondent at Petrograci, who declares that the ltussians are pouring through the Bostok (or Ruszka) Pass, which affords a passage over the Carpathians about midway between the Uszok and Dukla Passes. The Petrograd official message, however, makes no such claim, though it is stated that the Russians have captured all the summits in tbo principal chain of the Beskid mountains, a section of the Carpathians in Eastern Galicia, south of Lcmberg.

* * * * Prospects that Italy may intervene in tho war on the side of the Entente arc brighter t'o-day than ever. Tho news to hand is to the effect that Italy is believed to have renewed the negotiations with France which were interrupted in order to afford Prince von Bulow an opportunity of stating the case for the Germanic alliance, and that she has concluded an agreement with Servia in regard to the prospective acquisition of_ territory on the shores of the Adriatic. Italy, so_ the story runs, will offer no opposition to Servia obtaining an unfortified port on the Adriatic, on condition that Istria and Trieste shall be regarded as Italian. The agreement, it is added, marks a decisive step in the direction of Italian intervention. This may or may not bo a rosy estimate of possibilities, but it would certainly appear that Prince von Bulow, said to be the only German diplomatist who possesses the gift of the smile," has exercised his arts and wiles in vain, and that Italy is minded to seriously consider the advisability of throwing in her lot with the Entente.

It would be somewhat rash, however, to take Italian intervention for granted. Possibly there was never any very serious danger that she would elect to take sides with Germany and Austria in tho war, but the fact that negotiations _ with France were interrupted for a time in order that Prince von Bulow's proposals might be considered is not to be ignored. To an cxtcnt it counterbalances the popular sentiments hostile to Germany and Austria (lately stimulated by the alleged destruction of an Italian ship by a German submarine in the Atlantic), which have found free and pointed expression during the last few months. Remembering this state of public opinion, it may be assumed that the efforts of the veteran German diplomatist were directed mainly to securing a continuance of Italian neutrality, and it is rather early to take it for granted that he has entirely failed. The possible advantages of neutrality, as .distinct from the extreme step of joining one or other of the two great parties in the war have doubtless not been overlooked by the astute statesmen at the head of affairs in Italy, and advocates have not been lacking of view that when the time for "settling up" arrives the voice of a nation which has a large army and a powerful fleet intact, and whose neutrality has been of advantage to all the belligerent parties, will not pass unhccdcci.

Taking a reasonable view of the progress of events, it seems fairly evident that hope of Italian intervention on the side of the Entente rests nofc 'so much upon the friendly sentiments, to Franco and England and hostility to Germany and Austria, of which such clear evidence has been given in popular demonstrations, as upon the likelihood that the statesmen ruling Italy may decide that intervention will best serve the ideals-of national and territorial expansion which unquestionably dominate their foreign policy. Territorial expansion, where Italy is concerned, is an imperative necessity, licr only alternative being to sink dwwiumuWy Lu llw status of a

second-rate Power, dominated in all things by hor bigger neighbours. The Italian Peninsula is densely populated, and the overflow of population has not only gone to swell the tide of emigration overseas, but has led to the establishment of important Italian colonies in all the neighbouring States. Under French, bwiss, and British rule, Italians live prosperous, happy, and free, but those who inhabit the Austrian Tyrol, the extensive district adjoining the northeastern frontier of Italy, and Trieste and Istria, at the head of the Adriatic, have always been persecuted and oppressed. Apart from the fact that Italians overwhelmingly preponderate in the population of these districts, Italy claims them by natural right, as essential to the strength, of her frontiers. Touching upon this question a, writer in the Fortniyhthj Review remarks: "A glance at the map shows that the protecting wall of i the Alps is penetrated lay the Austrian Trentino. The Austrian frontier ends in the middle of the Lago di Garda, Hence an Austrian army can penetrate without difficulty into the Italian plain. The Trentino is an Austrian sally-port, which constantly threatens Italy's integrity and peace. Austria has maintained this important position in order to bo able to strike a mortal blow at Italy at any moment."

Faced by tho problem of redeeming large communities of Italians from Austrian misrule, and at tho same time advancing and strengthening her northern frontier, and gaining, in Trieste, the great naval harbour which she now lacks and which is_ essential to the security of her Adriatic coast, Italy's incentive to declare war on Austria seems obvious enough. That she can hope to achieve this measure of expansion if she persists in her present policy of unenterprising neutrality is at least very problematical, and the message concerning the renewal of negotiations with ! ranee and an agreement with Servia in reference to Trieste and Istria is to be welcomed as an indication that she is at least inclined to stake her fortunes upon a bold policy of enterprise in partnership with the Entente.

The entry of Italy, it is hardly necessary to say, would profoundly affect the further progress of the war. It would probably be followed by a harmonious agreement in the Balkans hostile to the Germanic Alliance, and besides undertaking an invasion of Austria, the Italian army would doubtless provide forces to cooperate with the French in Alsace, while the Italian Fleet would be a valuable accession of strength to those of tlie Entente in the Mediterranean.

The unopposed occupatioin of Kalfontcin and Kkanus by South African Union troops wbich lately advanced north from the Orange River and captured W'armbad suggests that the defenders of German SouthWest Africa- have abandoned resistance in the southern part of tho colony and retreated into the hilly region further north. lialfontein is 35 miles northeast of Warmbacl arid Kkanus, 34 miles further on, is 55 miles due north of Warmbad. The Union column has therefore advanced 70 miles north of tho Orango River, and appears to be making good headway, but it has been indicated that the main 'attacks upon tho German strongholds in the interior hilly country will be made, not from the south, but along the several lines of railway running east, and east and north, from the coast.

Accumulating messages ostensibly throwing light upon the alleged Bulgarian raids on the Servian and Greek frontiers serve only to further confuse the position. "It is clcar enough that some sort of insurrection is astir in Macedonia,, but its origin and purpose, if it has any, seem to be more or less involved in mystery.' To-day several new versions of the affair are put forward. The correspondent of the London Times at the Bulgarian capital supplies a story that the raid into Servian territory was made by bands, organised by a Servian major, which previously had ravaged Bulgarian frontier villages during a spaco of three weeks. He adds that the raiding bands joined "Bulgarian deserters from the Servian army," The Bulgarian Government, on the other hand, in disclaiming responsibility for the raid, alleges that the uprising was initiated by.the Turks among the Macedonians. These and other conflicting accounts of the disturbances in Macedonia seem to bear out a statement by Mil. Frank Fox, a war correspondent who went through the Balkan campaign," that in Balkan diplomacy it is always a matter of finding out the truth by comparing and weighing and deducing from a series of lies. Upon the whole, the first tension of the situation appears to have to some extent relaxed. It would be no new thing that murderous fighting should proceed on Balkan frontiers without leading to any formal declaration of hostilities by the countries conccrncd. According to the correspondent who has just been quoted, at the outbreak of the last Balkan war the death-rate by violence actually decreased in some quarters "because the killing was systeraatised little and put under a sort of regulation."