PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2520, 22 July 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Comparatively minor events and more or less rambling speculations still figure cheek by jowl in reports regarding the Western area of war.' In one message Flanders, the Vosges, or the Italian front, are accommodatingly suggested as possible objectives of an offensive for which the enemy are believed to be concentrating men. The possibility that Germany may strike a sudden blow at Italy is always open, but this apait these vague predictions of coming events amount to little more than tnat the- Germans are believed to be assembling troops and will probably ' strike somewhere when they have done it. This is practically on a par with the Kaisek's statement 'ohat he is about to inaugurate a coup on the West which will make all Europe tremble. The announcement is oddly reminiscent of one made lorn ago by the late President Krugkr' that he would "stagger humanity." It is highlv probable, of course, that the Germans are actually meditating some bip stroke on the Western front, fcineo it is only by adopting such a to ifflßi'ovc

the measure of advantage they have gained for the time being over the Russians.

Detail news iii hand docs not point to any very important development in the Western theatre. The Germans allege a British reverse at Hooge (east of Yprcs), but state that the British occupied the crater of a mine-explosion, a thing only to be done by a more or less successful attack. A later message which comes from Snt John French contradicts the German version, and states that the operation .resulted in a gain of a portion of the enemy's trcnches.

Available reports from the East-' crn theatre show the Germans closing .in dangerously upon Warsaw from the north-west and west, but that paralysis of the - Russian armies, of which the Kaiser spoke in his rccent bombastic telegram to tho Queen of Greece, is not apparent. On the contrary, the fate of Warsaw is still, at worst, an open question, and an American correspondent (Mr. Washburn) furnishes an assurance that it is being defended by the finest army that Russia ever placcd 'in the field. Some of the claims made by the Germans are at the moment disconcerting. If they are based on fact the Russians have not only withdrawn to the southern side of the Narew River (north-west of Warsaw), but have given ground on the western approach to an extent which has enabled the enemy to advance within twenty miles of the city from that direction. The last great German attack was broken on the BzuraRawka line, ten or fifteen miles west of the locality the Germans now claim thoy have reached, but in earlier operations the Germans reached the Vistula itself at Warsaw, only to bo ultimately rolled bajek. The position is obviously critical, but it is not to be expected that the Germans will be allowed to take any really decisive step towards capturing Warsaw without much heavier fi/jhting than has lately been reported on any of the lines of approach. if * * . »

Since the fashion arose, very early in the war, of likening the Russian military power to a steam-roller, which would shortly roll the Germans flat, events ha-ve made it necessary to adopt a very different estimate of the immediate- striking power of tho armies of tho Tsar. The steam-roller metaphor has been dropped, and people in the Western countries with which Russia, is allied _ have come to rely upon her qualities of dogged and indomitable pluck and endurance, her power to indefinitely take and inflict punishment, to enable' her to do her part .in "the war._ It is recognised that the expectation of an overwhelming Russian invasion of the German eastern provinces was based, and could only have been based, on ignorance, though an ultimate Russian victory is not on that account any less likely. But while ideas as to Russia's immediate striking force have'been modified in this way, no possible reason has appeared for. revising initial, estimates of the splendid fighting powers of the Russian soldier. On the contrary, the facts as they become known justify an ever-increasing admiration of the _ Russian _ soldier, and of tho patient heroism with which, the Russian nation' is conducting the war. The, Russian armies, of course, present an immensely varied assortment of human types, but those who have observed them in tho field appear to generally agree in ascribing to them_ a national spirit no less distinctive, though different in its kind, than that which distinguishes tho Frcuch and the British armies.. According to one such writer, the Russian soldiers understand little of strategy, tactics, the arms of particular operations. Their instinct •>f orientation is weak. Clearest is the static nation of holding trenches and mowing attackers' down. Soldiers never talk of marching on Berlin or Budapest. If only they repel attacks, it is the same whether they face east or west; they fight as well in retreat as in advance; they keep their heads when surrounded, so long as the enemy is visible only from one side. In big battles, that is always so. This is certainly not extravagant praise for the men who liavo time and again stemmed and broken the heaviest assaults of which German massed formations are capable, and in Galicia, the Carpathians, and elsewhere have shown themselves possessed of enterprise and dash as well as of the qualities of endurance which are the backbone of their nation's military strength.

A thousand factors, great and small, of diverse outlook, of beliefs and superstitions, make it difficult for alien races to even dimly appreciate the true nature of the Russian Empire and its army, but in the main the picture of Russian soldiers painted by those who understand them and have followed their fortunes is that of deep-hearted men inspired and wholly _ possessed by unquestioning patriotism. The onceprevalent conception of the Russians as a semi-barbarous people will no longer stand in the light of later knowledge. It is rather true that the stress ; of war has shown the Slav temperament, even in the persons of untutored men, to be capablo of an idealism of which any racc might bo proud. There is, for instance, the story (typical enough of many similar fragmentary observations which have been collected) of a Russian soldier in Warsaw who declare his belief that the war might end in a month. When he was pressed for an explanation it transpired that the sight _of two young German prisoners in tears had inspired him with the idea that the whole of tho German _ armies might be overcome by a similar repentance. The conception of five million Germans laying down their arms as a result of a change of heart is ludicrous enough, but it does not speak ill _ for _ tho simple peasant, in whose mind it was born. Many such stories have been told of the men who constitute tho Russian armies, and they stand in interesting contrast to the atrocious record of the army which has been charged with the mission _of impressing "kultur" upon civilisation at large. # # * *'

News from Denmark that a powerful German squadron has been sighted steaming north from the southern Baltic does not necessarily portend any very new naval development. The recent destruction of a German mine-laying cruiser by the Russians and of a pro-Dreadnought, by a British submarine, are calculated to discourage excursions of the kind reported, but Germany is bound to 'make at least an occasional display of naval forcc in tho Baltic, unless she is prepared to resign all pretensions to any effective, control of its area, For a long it has beea talwa fgr Ei^tgd,,

. . to*. w that Germany commands the Baltic Sea. Late events have made this extremely doubtful. Whether Russia is able to obtain supplies by way of the Baltic is uncertain, but it is quite likely _ that Germany, owing to the activities of Russian and British submarines, is herself handicapped in the use of her Baltic ports. Intermittent naval sorties cannot affect the ruling position. * * * »

• Suggestions that strikes at arms factories in ths United States have been inspired by Germans out of a desire to retard the execution of munitions contracts and so hamper the allies in the prosecution of the war are plausible enough as far as they go, but possibly do not cover the whole ground. Considering the present state of German-American relations, it is not at all unlikely that German agitators in the United States arc bestirring themselves with an eye to the possibility of a definite breach between the two countries, or perhaps in the hope of intimidating the American Government and postponing or averting such a breach. There is no question that relations between the two countries are at present in a state of the highest tension, and that there is no visible _ prospect of improvement. War is not imminent. It will be time enough to consider the possibility of an American declaration of war when Congress which al'one can sanction this drastic step, is summoned in special session. But the criminal attack on the Orduna, following on Germany's refusal to accord the satisfaction demanded by America, in connection with the Lusitania outrage, has brought the question _ and the likelihoocf of a rupture in diplomatic relations into the forefront, and if matters reach that stage it is not at all improbable that war will be the ultimate outcome. A mere continuation of such outrages upon Americans as Germany has committed in the past, coupled with tho cessation of diplomatic intercourse, would be likely to lead to war.

. If America comes to an open breach with Germany she will have an infinitely graver enemy . alien problem upon her hands than any nation now at war is afflicted with. When President Wilson denounced as an "abominable libel of ignorance," the suggestion that America would be divided against itself if it went to war, he was 110 doubt expressing justifiable confidence in the essential unity of the American nation. But between the state of a nation divided against itself and that of one burdened with the presence of a large enemy alien population, there is a .considerable margin, and from the last-mentioned disability America will certainly, not bo immune if she goes to war. Only a practical test would show what proportion of the GermanAmcrftan population is inspired by active hostility to its adopted country, bu'fc an attempt to broadly sum up the position is made by Me. J. D.. Whelpley in the Fortnightly -Be view. There are now in tlie United States, he says, about three million people who were born in German-, speaking countries, and nearly nine raillioh whose mother-tongue was German. As a rule the Americanbom son of German parents is a, good citizen, holding American interests as supreme. This is true also of many naturalised Germans. Nevertheless the situation in thei United States with that country at war with Germany would be most serious. No steps could be devised, Mr. Whelflev considers, which would render German influence innocuous. Internment would be out of the question, except in aggravated cases. In New York City alone there are said to be about 800,000 people of German origin,' or more than in any city with the exception of Berlin. The question of alien enemies would have to bo handled in some fashion, for which there is at prosent no precedent. It would bo one of the great problems in a war between the United States and Germany.

In the circumstances it is not surprising that there should bo growing public irritation in the United States on account of the activities of German spies and agents. Germans are now definitely charged with fomenting the strike at the Remington factory, and the Government _ has 'ordered an investigation of similar disturbances designed to interfere on an extensive scale with the output of munitions for the Allies. It may bo assumed that solicitude for commercial interests and for those of the Allies is not the only motive inspiring this action, but that the American Government is minded also to take time by the forelock lest it should presently find, itself called upon to deal with a gigantic enemy, alien problem made doubly dangerous by having been allowed to get out of hand.

The strong protests made by leading English journals concerning the means adopted by .the South Wales .miners to secure their ends but faintly express the . contempt that must be felt for men—whether employers or workers—who seek to take advantage of their country's peril for the purposes of personal gain. The position is aggravated in the case of the South Wales miners, for they by striking added to that peril. The strike has now ended, but with little credit to the Government, and still less to the strikers. ,Mk._ Lloyd George has been eulogised in some quarters for ending the trouble, but while all must admire his splendid work in these days of crisis, it is difficult to find any cause for congratulation in the handling of- this particular matter. The men to all appearances have been permitted to bludgeon the nation into submission to their will, and the failure of the Government to exercise the powers given it under the Safety of the Realm Aet may cause incal.culablc harm. It is one of the sorriest episodes of the whole war from the point of view of the British people. * * * *

Amongst other items of interest this morning, is ' the news of America's attitude over the German Note and the latest German outrage. We have heard ifc all before on previous occasions. The latest Note is to bo "drastically phrased," and an endeavour is to be made to pin down tho elusive to the real point at issue. The interest in tho message lies chiefly in the opportunity it affords for further speculation as to how much longer tlie President will allow himself to be side-tracked by Germany's transparent bluff without getting angry. News of the Italian campaign continues very satisfactory, and there is also an item from the Black Sea which makes -good reading, namely, the sinking bv Russian destroyers of 80 Turkish sailing vesfmls, These, Qftto sn&ll

they were laden with war supplies for the Turkish _ forces operating against the Russian army ill the region of the Caucasus.