PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2506, 6 July 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

_ Vehy encouraging accounts of tho Dardanelles campaign are given in a report from Mitylene. It does not carry the authority of an official message, but deserves somo attention as dealing with matters which official reports commonly leave untouched. That the late advance of the Allies puts their (lines in a position to seriously threaten the Turkish occupation of Achi Baba is no doubt well within the-facts. Tho recent advance on the left of tho southern lino was a first step at least in a movement which threatens the Turkish stronghold •in flank. Statements that Turkish suppliesof munitions are running low are probably more speculative in character. At all events, the latest official messages afford no indication that the enemy a-ro as badly off for supplies as tho Mitylene correspondent suggests.

The sinking of a German prcDreadno'Ught battleship of the Deutsohland type in the Baltic by a Russian submarine will reinforce the lesson taught'by British underwater craft in the Dardanelles. and Sea of Marmora, that submarine warfare is not a German monopoly.'' Ships of the Deutschland class rank in the German Navy-List next to the Dreadnoughts, and the loss, of ono of their number will represent a perceptible reduction in fighting strength. Fuller details of tho cruiser action in the Baltic, reported yesterday, show thjit ' tho 'Russians, compelling the mineship Albatross _to run ashore to hopeless wreck, inflicted heavy damage upon two German cruisers. Reports of the' action generally bear out the impression .that the Germans are unwilling to risk strong squadrons 'very, far north in tho Baltic. . t ..

In comparison with the relativelyrapid _ movement, of armies on the opposite front, events reported • in the Western • theatre' are - unsensational. For the time being Gorman attacks are the dominant feature, Except in the Argonne Forest, whore a line of French trenches has been capturcd, they do, not seem to have been anywhere crowned ■. with success, but from'their character it is evident that the Germans by no means feol at liberty to slacken in their operations against the Western Allies in order to_ concentrate upon tho attempt to gain x a definite mastery over the Russians. The Gorman forces in the Argonne\are under the command of the Ceown Pbince, who reappears at .the head of : an after a somewhat lengthy interval. Tho battle-lino aoross the forest pursues a zig-zag course,' tho French front extending north in a broad wedge in tho middle area, while tho German front' promts south, wedge-fashion, on either side of the French wedge. It was against the French trenches opposite . one side of the western German wedge that the Ceown Peince launched his attack. About seven miles south from the point of the wedge stands St. Menehpuld, on the railway, running east to Verdun, which it is the aim of the Germans to reach. . The story of the German assault has been in part told in earlier reports, but it now x appears that .it continued night and, day for ten days. The front is a narrow ,onc, and the Crown Pkince concentrated. 45,000 men in a- space of four miles. The usual German tactics were employed '-ra cyclonic bombardment and infantry attacks in massed formation. Although the Germans so far prevailed as to carry the' French-first-line trenches, the Paris official report treats the niatter lightly and speaks of tho assault having "fizzled out." Considering the nearness of ,tho'line to St. Menehould and the railway to Verdun, the measure of German ! success ' might otherwise seem disquieting,'but a great deal depends, of course, upon the local topography. *#• * v

More satisfactory news is given of a German'massed attack on a front t\vo or three miles long in Northern France, west of Lens. The enemy was here assaulting positions lately wrested from him by the French'in their long-continued offensive, and the' attempted recovery "appears to have been a total failure. It is stated that the''attack was repulsed !iy enfilading fire and machine-guns, a satisfactory indication that the French are already firmly establish ad in the enemy positions they so recently won. In reference to another detail action, in the Woevrc district, between St. Mihiel and the Lorraine border, the Germans claim that they captured about 600 yards of French trenches,'but the official report from Paris declares' that attempted attacks in this region were foiled at ■their inception. *** « .

Generally speaking, the Russians are still retreating and fighting rearguard actions both in Southern Poland and Galicia. On the surface things are "going badly with the armies of the Tsar. Bereft of nearly the whole of Gilicia,; after having invaded fourjifths of its area, they af'c now not even able arrest a counter-invasion at their own southern frontiers. A great part of Poland is in the hands. of tho enemy, and as if this were not enough, the Russians are_ now threatened in a new quarter if credenco can be attached to the unofficial report .of a German concentration in tho Libau district, north of East Prussia. From these facts— and they arc all undisputed; _ facts cxccpt the new concentration in the Libau district, which still awaits confirmation at the moment of writing—it would be easy to tako . a dismal view of'tho prospects of the >Russian armies in the immediate future. But experience has shown that it is necessary to look at tho facts of tho 'war in the light of past happenings, and what is known of the strength and capacity of tho combatant parties. Accepting these guides and making no attempt to ovado facts as they, stand, it may bo' said .with confidonca tfeat tjigro is br

need for any special uneasiness about Russian prospects.. On the contrary, the outcome of .the events now in train is quite as likely to be 11 triumph of Russian strategy as a triumph of the German arms.

Since the war began Jtussia has been in tn? position of a giaiit military Power only able to use its strength within ■ stated limitations. Lack of preparation, lack of artillery, and munitions, and lack of transport facilities, have ' hitherto madc.it impossible for Russia to exert its strength in striking a concentrated blow at Germany—an invasion that would bear down all the force that Germany, might throw forward to stay its progress. Weak in this respect, with a- weakness that will not be permanent, Russia is enormously strong in defence, arid in eleven months of war Germany and Austria combined have not once broken the Russian defence at any vital point. Considering this contest of giants, it is necessary to remember that Russia's inability to aim at. immediate victory does not of necessity bring German' victory any nearer. The balance of invaded' territory is now hopelessly against Russia, and-at an-earlier stage of thewar it was in her favour. But it_ is the loss of Galicia, an Austrian province, that has reversed the balance. It has been recognised all along that Austria' is a weaker foe than Germany, and it is a German effort that has all but cleaned'the big Austrian province of invaders.

That it is a German effort is the redeeming fact of the situation. During the past progress of the war it has been the supreme task of the Russian armies and aim of Russian strategy to protect vital communications—which very largely resolves itself into protecting Warsaw on the north, west, and south—and retain the fullest possible, freedom of manoeuvring in the- field. Two months ago these ends were secured and, Galicia was invaded. To-day Galicia' is lost and Warsaw is threatened—perhaps not very seriously—from. the south. But tho Russian armies have inot lost freedom of manoeuvring, and the transformation, such ag.it is, has 'been effected at a cost to the Germans which the event may prove to be unVarying estimates have been published of .the strength of the Gorman armies which lately drove east through Galicia and have now in great paTt turned north towards Warsaw, hut it is pretty safe to as-sume-that not less than a'million Germans, apart from co-operating Austrian armies, have been detailed for the work. Galicia "was certainly recovered at heavy cost,. and it' is equally certain that every step northward towards Warsaw beyond the line on which the Russians choose to take their stand will be dearly bought. The visible -advantages gained by the Germanic Allies; are that pressure on Austria-has been relieved, and that' some headway* has been made ,in a new advance towards Warsaw. The relief afforded to Austria will be largely counterbalanced by the. strain of defending her southern frontiers against Italy, and as to the advance on Warsaw the ;> invaders are as yet a hundred' miles or so' 'short of their goal. It may-be said with every show of reason;that they have poor prospects of excelling the German "armies which last attacked Warsaw from the west and were stopped dead on the Bzura-Rawka line by the stubborn valour of the Russian infantry, against which artillery superiority utterly failed to prevail. ".* « * *

It-has yet to appear whether there is anything in the story of a big Gorman army concentrating north of East Prussia to advance north on Riga or form one flank in a great envoloping movement, the other flank being represented by General von Mackensen's-forces in Southern Poland. The latter enterprise does not look promising, Practically what is suggested is an attempt to envelop the whole of the Russian front,- ! and it is as certain as anything can be that the jaws of. the proposed instrument would prove unequal to their appointed l task. . • .

Leaving the story of .the nortfiErn concentration out of' account, it is still true that the Germans appear to be developing their campaign against the Russians' on a greater scale than they have ever before attempted. Relief for the Austrians has been obtained, as has been said, at the cost of a German effort—an effort which has involved a most important departure from the German policy of concentrating on the Western front and holding the other with tho minimum possible ,forces. The operations now in progress in Galicia and Southern Poland have somewhat, shortened , the Eastern' front, and it may be shortened still farther. Biit the Germans, have gained this measure of advantage by largely reinforcing their Eastern armies, and it may be assumed that thoy can only hold the Russians' by maintaining their forces at the present level. Meantime theyrhave to reckon upon 'dieting an ever-in-creasing straih in the Western theatre and upon a gradual development of Russian strength due to increased supplies of artillery and other necessary , equipment. The opening of the: Dardanelles, which may take months and may be' accomplished in weeks, would open suoh a ! channel of Russian supplies as would quickly neutralise the effect of additional Germany army corps' poured into the Eastern theatre. One view of the situation,-as it now stands in the Eastern theatre is that Germany under pressure is drawing-upon new and unsuspected reservoirs of strength, but it is another and equally tenable view that in face of developments present and prospective, which darken her outlook, Germany is taking risks which she was not- prepared-to take at an earlier stage in the campaign. . * * .* *

A late message quotes a Berlin covinmnique. stating that General von Mackensen is ■ advancing pn Krylow,_ a jilace 5 miles north of the Galician frontier, due north of lemberg. _ Krylow is 100 miles east of the Vistula, and the report is chiefly interesting as indicating tho' great length pf the German front in Southern Poland, which extends east and west of the jVistula.