PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2587, 8 October 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Momentous 'as it is the announcement that Bulgaria has returned an unsatisfactory reply to the Russian ultimatum and tha[fc 'diplomatic relations between the two countries havo been broken off, is almost overshadowed to-day by . 'disconcerting news from Greece. The fall of the Venizelos Government creates a difficult and troubled situation which will afford keen; satisfaction to the Germans and those ,who support their designs. in. the" Balkans, though' it may: or may not develop in'accordance -with their The; 'dismissal; of M." Vsiiimos and his colleagues; can (inly, be regarded as, a prp-Gcrroan 'effected -by King Constantine and those who. share his .. views. /, : -iHe,..,' i: Greece: is..a brother-injaw; of ■ the: Kaiser,, .and. his:, sympathies- .vwcrbj made manifest when ho compelled M. .'Venizelos to'-resignj.'.sonia months' ago,' because that statesman had declared for a policy:'of Yenizelist newspapofssuggested*• at; the, time. that ; the .King.. had- over-, stepped the bounds of. constitutional authority: and ..it seems vlikely.'that, the charge may now bb revived with double force. In the' interval M. Venizelos, has appealed ;to the country and been returned to power with ,a substantial majority. . It was .-with- this backing that he'embarked upon 1 a policy pointing to intervention on behalf of, Serbia, the only ally., of Greece, and in co-operar tion.with the Entente. If the attitude of the Greek people has been correctly represented they heartily approved tho general mobilisation lately ordered. The situation was further defined by the Entente landing at Salonika. The purpose with which the troops landed was.known to the Greek population and it is reported that: tiey were received with enthusiasm. Taking - into account also that the Chamber of Deputies,' after ! the landing, passed a voto of confidence in the Government by 142 .votes to 102, the conclusion is inevitable that a popular Government, pursuing a policy approved by the people and by a majority in Parliament,: has been displaced by an unconstitutional exercise of autocratic authority.

■ This being so, the. situation in Greece will only, take definite shape' when the position of tho new Government has been put to - fcho testMention of'a coalition Government from .whioh M. Venizelos is excluded shows that attempts are- being made to divide his party,-but since he went to the' country only' a month °r two ago with a known policy and was triumphantly returned, this' may not be easy. M. Zaihis, who heads the new Cabinet, though a former Prime Minister of Greece, did not hold office in the Gounaris Government which M. , Venizelos lately defeated, or in either of the last two Venizelos Governments. Like , M.- Venizelos, . however, he played a prominent part in the events whioh led up ,to the Greek annexation, of Crete. He succeeded Prince George as High Commissioner in that island while its ultimate fate was still in dispute. ' Latterly, as' is mentioned in a cablegram he has been Governor of the Greek National Bank! . M. Zaimis has the reputation of being an astute and capable politician, but the task now imposed Upon him is one "of great difficulty. ' The situation seems to contain the elements oi a political crisis of extreme gravity. Much will depend on, thecoui'so adopted by M. Venizelos, and the reported terms of the statement he made on leaving office suggest that ho is hardly likely to respond to tho appeal for assistance ICing Constantine is said to have addressed to his former Ministers.

Fkom tho standpoint of. the Entente, the change of Government in Grecoc is an extremely unsatisfactory _ development. A doubt N is nowraisod as to whether Greece will intervene on behalf of Serbia, and Greek intervention, apart from its direct value,' is the one thing that : would regularise and justify the Entente landing at Salonika and tic use by Entente forces of the railway running north from Salonika into Serbia. Unless another political transformation restores M. Venizelos to power the sequel to the events reported to-day may bo a demand that the Entente shall cease to uso the,port, and railway. England and her Allies would thou have to ohooßs

between coercing Greece or leaving Serbia to her. fate, and giving the Austro-Germans a clear run in the Balkans. It is not certain, _ howeyer, that this unpleasant choice of evils will have tp be faced. The political situation in Greccc cannot yet be regarded as stable. ; Visible indications suggest a conspiracy to defeat the popular will, and it may not succeed, * it * *

Ai'ART from tiic apparent defection of Grecce, events in the Balkans are moving less rapidly than they may bo expected to do' in the near future. Bulgaria's rejection of the Russian ultimatum is. a definite step towards war, but at time, of writing there is no (lews of military events. The attitude of Rumania, now more than ever an important factor, is still jindejined. Sho is reported to be moving troops up to the" Bulgarian-frontier and taking other extraordinary military measures, but this is not necessarily inconsistent with a decision to maintain a neutral attitude. If, as is probable, the Austro-Germans select the north-pastern corncr .of Serbia as the initial point of attaok, tlicro will presently be fighting in the immediate neighbourhood of the Rumanian frontier, and with such developments in, prospect it is natural that the frontier guards should be strengthened.

A late message dealing with political developments in Greece indicates that tno situation may be in some respects less grave than tho resignation of the Government in itself would imply. It states tjiat Kino Constantine and M. Venize'los agreed upon mobilisation with a view to averting a Bulgarian attaok on Serbia, and- that ~ differences arose subsequently between the King and his Minister over expressions used by the latter, in a Parliamentary debate, which were resented by the German Minister at Athens'. It is understood also, this report states, that-.M. Venizelos has agreed to support the Coalition Government provided the mobilisation of the ■Army is maintained.: A prospect is thus opened up that Greece may yet carry out its obligations to Serbia, if that country should be attacked by Bulgaria. On the other band the report, if true, furnishes another indication of the extent to which the_ King of Greece is under German influence, and that 'influence will certainly be exerted to tho uttermost. * * ,♦ * Only brief accounts are available as yet of the latest enterprise by the French in tho Champagne district, but it is evident that they have aohieved a success of considerable importance. Attacking near the centre of the front on -winch they advanced in the opening movement of the grand offensive; they have captured Tahure, a dominating position in the enemy's second defensive line. Tahure lies only about 'two miles south of the lateral railway upon which, the Germans are dependent in this region, and which is now more than ever seriously menaced. Whether the capture of Tahure and of the summit of tho near-by elevation,_ known ~as the 1 Butte de Tahure, is an incident only in operations still being actively developed, is not;yet clear, but apart from the tactical importance, of the ;ground gained the fighting already ' reported' was evidently upon.-a considerable scale'. So much may be gathered .- from the fact that 'German prisoners already counted number over a thousand: ; :i .' .

. Very encouraging accounts; arc given of tho position of ,the Russians igenerally in the Eastern campaign. And as regards reinforcements and :the;supply of munitions, but there is littio news at the moment of detair operations. It is shown, however, that Dvinsk, which has been the principal German objective for some time past, is holding, out against attacks, and that on o'ther v sections of the northern front, some of them in'the near neighbourhood, of Dvinsk, the Russians are no." longer thrown backun defence, but are pressing the enemy hard.

Any tendency to pessimism born of the somewhat untoward turn events are taking' at the moment in the Balkan Peninsula should be corrected by the robust statement credited to-day to Lord Kitchener. Addressing a Labour Congress, he said in effect that given the necessary men and munitions Britain and its Allies held the war in the hollow of their hands. The War Minister speaks from a fuller knowledge of tho facts than any of those to,whom his remark will-.travel "and. his sum-ming-up of tho situation affords full warrant and justification for an attitude the reverse of pessimistic. It is as well to keep steadily in mind the fact that the fate of tha 'Entcntr, in this . war is. not at fcho mercy of any vacillating Balkan States,"but depends solely upon the. efforts of its constituent Powers. Whatever tho perplexities of the moment may be, victory and success arc in sight, and_ on the authority of- the War Minister—thoro could be no better authority—will be grasped provided 'the. necessary effort is put forth. Lord Kitchener's call for men and munitions to end the war was addressed to a British audience, but so far as fcho call for men' is concerned it has a direct application to every country in the Empire. Certainly it should be given full heed in New Zealand where the tide of recruiting has of late .fallen away disappointingly at a time when it is more than ever necessary that jbhe response to the call to arms should be free and ample.