PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2437, 16 April 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

War news from all quarters to-day is good. There is an abscnce of late information concerning operations in the Western theatre, Dut dispatches covering a period show that the Allies have greatly improved their position. Matters appear to be going equally well with the llussians in the main Eastern theatre. Further indications are afforded that nublie opinion is steadily hardening in favour of the Entente in Italy and Greece. Beyond creating a considerable stir along the East- Coast- of England the .Zej?»eli» »'uu-'u ui'ouiiei* bemb*

Wednesday night at some places on the Northumberland coast and along the lino of the River Tyne seems to have accomplished very little. Some narrow escapes are reported, but as yet no loss of life and comparatively little damage. Apparently the measures taken to confuse the airmen, chiefly by the general extinction of lights, proved highly successful.

Simultaneously with the news of this rather futile raid comes a message which credits Count Zeppelin's secretary with some bombastic predictions of Zeppelin activity in the near future. His statement, however, is little calculated to inspire apprehension. He admits that nine of tho big airships have been lost during the war, a fact in itself highly significant when it is remembered that as a rule they have been kept carefully out of harm's way and have been little exposed to the dangers _of fighting service. Fanciful stories about armoured Zcppolins which will carry long-range guns and the means of creating atmospheric "perturbations" calculated to destroy the stability of aeroplanes, a l e "toNdy unconvincing. Some of tho existing Zeppelins carry guns on their upper surface, but experts declare that they could be fired only at tho risk of inflicting somo damage upon the airship itself. Tho use of high-powered guns on the Zeppelins is therefore inconceivable. It it pretty safe to assume that the predicted raid on London, if it is made, will take tho form of ordinary bombdropping, and that the raiding ailships will be handicapped by tho weakness and fragility which have already proved fatal to half a score or more of their lato consorts.

Heavy German reinforcements are to have been sent to the Carpathians, but there is no indication that the Russian offensive along the line of the mountains has anywhere been seriously checked. On the contrary, _ to-day's news shows that the Russians have made some further progress in the direction of the Uszok Pass, one of their principal objectives, while enemy counterattacks at a point west of' Hie Uszok Pass and in Eastern Galicia and Bukowina have in every instance been repulsed. Austro-Gcrman attacks in this Eastern region are spoken of, not as an offensive in progress, but as "attempts by tho enemy to assume the offensive."Great efforts are of course being made to offer some definite obstacle to the Russian advance on Hungary but as yet no material success appears to have rewarded them. The indications are that the Russians are bearing down all opposition and steadily forging ahead, except -at the eastern end of Galicia and in Bukowina where _ the conflict Eeems to be almost stationary.

Although the British forces gained a, decisive victory at Neuve Chapelle, Sir John _ French's report on the battle, which is summarised in the cablegrams to-day, makes it plain that the immediate fruits of victory were less than had been hoped for by the leaders directing the attack. At a cost of nearly thirteen thousand casualties (more than 2500 officers and men being killed outright), | the British burst into the German line and captured the village of Neuve Chapelle and neighbouring positions to the south, and so far the object of the assault was gained, and furious efforts by the enemy to recover the ground they had lost were beaten off with slaughter. It is therefore clearly established that the British troops won-a great victory, but it had been hoped that in addition to tho capture of Neuve Chapelle their assault would extend to other positions further east on the line of 'approach to the great fortress of Lille, which is the immediate goal of_ the Allies in Northern ■France. This latter purpose was not accomplished, and the British are still about a dozen miles short of Lille. ' Failure to grasp the full reward of victory is attributed by Sir John Fkench partly to an interruption of telephone communication (caused by the enemy's artillery fire), which contributed in a measure to the disorganisation of the attack and' partly to failure to carry out the instructions of General Sir Douglas Haig, who commanded the attacking force. A very frank admission is thus made that tho stress of this hard-fought battle and the searching test which it imposed, exposed certain detail defects in organisation which have doubtless ere now been rectified. The British losses at Neuve Chapelle represented the cost not only of the definite victory gained, but of valuable experience which will set its mark on future battles.

Within its the British victory at Neuve Chapelle was a splendid feat of arms, and as an early and successful stroke in the offensive campaign upon which tho Western _ Allies are now fully embarked, it'opens up distinctly hopeful prospects for tie future. Reading the quietly-worded but impressive in which Marshal French describes the devastating artillery _ bombardment of the Ger.man positions : and the infantry assaults,_ for which it paved the way, it is impossible to doubt that the British troops are thoroughly capable of playing their part in the desperate work which lies ahead now that the weary deadlock of the siegewarfare is at an end. Above all, the dispatch is a convincing attestation of the supremely important part that artillery plays in this war. At Neuve Chapelle the British artillery not only blazed a track for the advancing infantry, sweeping away entanglements and spreading death and ruin through' the German trenches, but covered the infantry while they made good their footing iu the German positions, with a "curtain" of shrapnel fire, which opposed an impassable barrier to the approach of German reinforcements. To tho point to which it was pushed at Neuve Chapelle the British attack was irresistible, and the lesson of the battle seems to be that so long as guns and munitions enough' are made available similar successes can-be multiplied indefinitely.

A point that is being increasingly emphasised in official and other dispatches is raised by Sir John French when he mentions as one factor dictating a vigorous Western offensive, the necessity of assisting the Russians by holding.as many of the enemy on the Western front as possible. The abstract desirability of preventing any overmastering concentration of the enemy on a single front is too obvious to need emphasis or call for comment, but it is one of the most satisfactory feature's of the war at the stage now reached that the Germans are evidently no longer capable of achieving :-nch .1 concentration. There is .no loawr W likelihood that tbftv.

will obtain such a command of the main Eastern campaign as would enable them to prosecute it on defensive lines, with diminished forces, while concentrating the bulk of their strength on the opposite front. Both in East and West, Germany is called upon to face an active and tireless offensive, backed by resources which in the aggregate are much greater than her own. Such a Btate of affairs in itself represents an important victory for the Allies, givlug promise of greater victories to come and in the efforts by the Allies on both fronts which have made it possible, the Battle of Neuve Chapcljc deserves an honourable placc. Quite apart the measure of local progress achieved by the British assault, it had its weighty influence in compelling that continued division of forces between the two main fronts, which is the deadliest weakness of the German Colossus.

News from Greece is to the effect that the new Government appointed by Kino Constantine to maintain his views in favour of continued neutrality is finding it necessary to resort to extreme measures to suppress the pro-war sentiments rife throughout the population. The exPrime Minister (M. Venizelos), who favours war, is under military guard, and the neutrality party _ ie securing; obedience only by a policy of coercion and terrorism. It seema likely that the War Party will; before long, have its way, for, all accounts agree that M. Venizelos, though at present under a cloud of Royal disapprobation, commands tho loyal support of a big majority of the Greek population.

Where the Balkans are concerned there is always Bulgaria, to be considered, but' in the absence of any definite pronouncement from that country the spectacle of Turkey, menaced and doomed, should afford a fairly reliable guarantee against Bulgaria's venturing upon any course- of action hostile to the Entente or to Greece and her other neighbours who favour the Entente. In this connection the Paris Temps gives publicity to a story that Marshal von dee Golti, at a Council of War in Constantinople, informed the members of the Ottoman Government that while Germany would give Turkey a generous slice of her war loan,_ Germany and Austria could not spare a single battalion for an attack in Servia to creatc a diversion from the Dardanelles. Tho Turkish Ministers are reported to have indulged in some plain speaking, Tauat Bey (Minister of the Interior) remarking that if Germany was in such a state it was high timo that -Turkey should conclude a sea-' arato peace. Whether or not this story is a faithful report of tho Council of War it no cloubt represents the actual state of affairs with reasonable accuracy. It is calculated t9 exercise a distinctly restraining influence upon Bulgaria so far as any action hostile to the Entente is concerned.