PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2570, 18 September 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Nothing could better bring home tho nature of the task the Allies have undertaken at tho Dardanelles than tho total of British casualties in that theatre to August 21. Under all heads, killed, wounded, and missing, the losses to that date incurred during a, period of four months are over 87,000 men. This is nearer a quarter than a. fifth of tho total British military and naval losses during a year of wa.r, and when it is remembered that tho Dardanelles losses have been incurred almost wholly in batfics for' a few square miles of hilly country—tho fighting fronts at the present date have an aggregate length of only about 15 miles—the total is almost appalling.. The number of casualties now given probably approximates closely to tlie total strength of the British- force which made tho famous landing. The character of the campaign is again strikingly manifested in the fact that the British Dardanelles casualties in tho period from tho last week of July to August 21 were nearly twice as numerous as British casualties in all other war areas during the same period. The figures make it plain that tho original force has been very considerably increased. In tho period of a month or less, to August 21, which witnessed the greatest effort yet made to master the Turkish defennjs of the Narrows, tho British invading army suffered nearly as hea,vy loss as in the previous three months of tho campaign, though this earlier period covers _ the terribly costly landing made in face of the enormously powerful defences prepared by the Turks. ;

Apart from their immediate import, these casualty figiires should help to resolve any doubts as to the relation of the Dardanelles campaign to tho war as a whole. The truth plainly is that this campaign represents at the moment, and has represented for some time , past, th.e supreme British effort in the war. Enormous British forces a;re being poured into tho Western theatre, and, with their French allies, they may be called upon at any time now to stem an assault pressed with all the powerof which Germany is capable, but whether Britain and her Ally contemplate anything more than defence in the main theatre for some timo to come is doubtful. At the Dardanelles, on the other hand, tremendous efforts are being put forth for early victory. A few square miles of hilly peninsula may seem to bo a wretched gain to set against such a. terrible loss of men as the Dardanelles campaign has entailed, but to judge the matter from that standpoint would.be to take a hopelessly limited view. :** » * Some questions are still Open as to the wisdom with which the campaign was planned in its early stages, but the Allied invading army is fighting for objects which warrant sacrifice. Success in this campaign will mean not a local victory only, but the first definite step towards, victory in the war. Victory at tho Dardanelles means the downfall of the Turkish Empire, tho disappearance of whatever hopes the Central Powers may entertain of spreading the war to their advantage, and perhaps most important ot all, tho breaking of' tie qualified blockade which at present Eussia exerting anything .like its full ' strength in tho war. Meantime the Allies havo much to set against tho losses they have suffered. They have not merely gained a footing in tho Gallipoli Peninsula, but in. doing it have beaten the flower of the Turkish atmy. In spite of the strength of the great natural fortress they are defending, the Turks have suffered much more heavily than the invading army, and as high an authority as Lord Kitchener has declared that there is abundant evidence that tEey are a .prey to demoralisation. Hitherto the cost and sacrifices of this great campaign have been more in evidence tha,n its prospective fruits, but the sacrifices have not been made in vain, and it is possiblo to set against them the oonfident expectar tion of a Victory which,short of some unexpected turn of events, should not now be very long deferred. >

Not much surprise will be felt at the news that a' British submarine has been sunk by the Turks for the daring raids in which the underwater craft have done to much to interrupt _ sea-communication with tho Gallipoli Peninrula are attended by extremely heavy risks, E7 is ono of three British submarines wh'ich have been lost at the Darda-' nelles, but on tho other side of tho account there is to bo set a long list of transports, and some warships, destroyed, which leaves the balance heavily against tho Turks. Apparently the Turks rescued the whole of E7's crew, for it is stated that three officers and 25 men aro prisoners in their hands. Like the other sub- | marines 'which have been lost at tho j Dardanelles, E7 was a speedy, modern boat of 800 tons displacement.

Germany can so ill afford to rest upon hor oars and copy the delaying tactics of her enemies that • the slowing down of her Russian offensive reasonably bo regardedas preliminary to renewed aggression on a big scalo in tho Western theatre or elsewhere, bub of such a development. thero is no visible _ sign at time of writing. Thero is, indeed, hardly any news in hand of events in the principal theatres. This is a state of affairs which cannot be cxpcctcd to continue vory long.- Except in tho case of tho Dardanelles campaign, tho Allies aro in a position' to pursue the struggle on tho lines of a war attrition right through, the autumn and winter, if they deem it wise to adopt that policy. Russia : as well as - tho Western Allies, is practically in this position now that tho strength of i,ha Austo'Qeman Eastora ofreustyo is .wjffliQfr, » > a a .totally,

different position. In her caso it is emphatically true that delays aro dangerous. Settling down to a comparatively inaclivo winter campaign would bo practically equivalent on hor part to an early admission of defeat, for what she. could not accomplish now she could hardly hope to .accomplish against tho very much more powerful forces with which sho will havo to copo in tho spring. » # * v

It is because these facts stand out so plainly that there is strong reason to cxpcct an early offensivo by tho Germans in the Western theatre or in tho Balkan Peninsula, or in both areas. Meantimo Germany's delay in bringing her Russian adventure to some definite point, and so paving tho way for action in other theatres must bo regarded as favourable to the prospects of the Allies. Mcagro as it is, tho news in hand goes to show that Germany is by no means advantageously placed to inaugurate i>ew enterprises, which represent for her the only alternative to perilous delay.' Her forces in the Eastern theatre arc making very slow progress towards the Dvinsk-Rovno railway, which has been named (though not officially) as their objective. As yet they havo reached tho line only on a narrow front in the Baltic Provinces. Tho Austrians lately claimed that they were astrido it in Southern Russia, north of Rovno, but this 'has not been confirmed. Further north, in the area of the Pripet marshes, the Germans, by their own showing, aro something • liko fifty miles short, of tho laihvay. Save for a rather vague German report asserting that the Russian attack -n the south-eastern ■ theatre has col-

lapsed, thero is no word of any change in Galicia, where tho initiative has lately been definitely grasped by tho Russians. Tho fact that Germahy is so obviously slackening in her Eastern offensive possibly in itself implies that she is assembling forces for action in other theatres, but if this is the position she has been compelled to undertake new activities while her enterprise against Russia is far from having been carried to a satisfactory point even in tfie way of preparation for a delaying campaign. * # * #

Everyone who reads the war news must have experienced difficulty in estimating the value of the varied and often contradictory reports that come through from neutral sources about the state'of affairs in .Constantinople and the spirit of the Turkish population. Accredited neutrals are more or less free to travel to and from Constantinople by way of the northern frontier, and it must be assumed that a certain amount of genuine news escapes in this way. Tho diflieulty is to separate the true from the false, to pick out tho genuine news from the floating cloud of contradictory and often extravagant rumours about the .internal state of Turkey. Some, interesting observations are made' on this subject to-day by a Times correspondent at Salonika,' who suggests that the contradictory character of neutral reports is in some cases easily explained. He instances two reports, each of them typical of many others that have been published. One originates with an American, who declares that Constantinople is _the_ gayest city in Europe and that its inhabitants entertain no apprehension of the Dardanelles being forced; A very different story is told by an Armenian, who pictures the Turkish capital as a city of gloom and its inteinal conditions as nearly desperate. According to this informant, the people of Constantinople are fretting and chafing under German domination, food prices are almost .prohibitive, and innumerable buildings which have •been turned into hospitals ,arc overflowing with wounded, who number over a hundred thousand. The conclusion reached by, the Times corres: pondent is that both narrators are honest, but that while the American had been in touch only with the official class, the Armenian had moved about among the people and seen things as they were. * '* * •

This view of the matter is plausible. 'It does not mean, of coursc, that every report pointing to a determination on the part of the Turks to continue the struggle is an official lie, or that every tale of Turkish demoralisation is a strictly accurate record of fact, but in an Oriental despotism like Turkey ,a sharp lino of demarcation is drawn between the mass of the people who experience the full rigours of the | war and the official and privileged classes, who are much more fortunately oircumstanced. Some -idea of the. present state of affairs in Constantinople and in Turkey may perhaps be gained by harking back to the 'Russian capture of Przemysl, an event which brought to light an example on a smaller scalc of what happens in a bard-pressed community under despotic rule. The Russians. when they entered the Galician fortress, found a horde of . soldiers suffering the extreme pangs of. starvation. They found, also, many sleek and well-conditioned officers, who had suffered no privations, but had lived during the siege not in comfort merely, but in luxury. In a despotism these extremes and the separation of the multitudo from its tyrants are inevitable, and no doubt conditions of this kind are very marked in Turkey to-day. Visitors who" como in. touch chiefly with the official and privileged classes must in the circumstanccs, be apt to collect false and erroneous impressions, and while it would bo foolish, on the other hand, to accept as gospel every story that is told about the pitiful plight of the Turks, it is certainly from those who aro ablo to get into touch with the mass of the Turkish population that the truth must be sought.