PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2608, 2 November 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Attention is once again ,foeussed On the Western theatre to-day, by news of a German attack which was developed on an immense^scale, and failed. Certain small gains appear to have been made, though the results were far. short of a commensurate return for the prodigal outlay in lives and material which must have, been involved. The locality selected Was a section, five miles long, of.the front in the. Champagne district upon which the French recently broke into the enemy's line, and which has since been the scene of incessant heavy fighting. Accounts given of the German attack lift it out of the class of local counter-attacks. It was'a powerful effort to breach the French line at a vitally important point, and in that character it definitely failed. In recent references_ to the locality of this battle, prominence has been chiefly given to the fact that the French are developing an attack upon the German communications, their objective being in the first instance a lateral line a mile or two behind the present German front, and ultimately the main line which runs west into France by way of Luxembourg, and constitutes one of the principal channels of communication between the German invading armies and their main bases of slipply. The French also are fighting here in advance, of railways vitally important to themselves, notably the railways running cast towards Verdun, several of which meet at and near St. Menehould, ti~ place about 15 miles south of Tahure, where alone the German attack achieved a measure of success. * * * * While admitting that the enemy reached the summit of the eminence known as the Butte de Tahure, the French official report sums up the result of the battle as a serious German defeat. In. itself, the loss of Tfihiiu* hill-—if it has Iweu loft| which is left rather obscure—is uo

light matter. It stands at tbe forward extremity of the strip of German front lately occupied by the French, but when it was captured emphasis was laid upon its strategic, value as an aid to a further attack upon the lateral railway immedij ately behind the enemy front. Its recapture must therefore afford the Germans a measure of relief, and they have a success, though a limited one, to set against the fact that their attacking columns were elsewhere thrown back upon their own trenches. That tlie Frcnch are able, despite their loss of the summit of Tahurc hill, to report a serious German defeat, implies that the enemy attack was developed upon a major scale, and was intended to achievc results. This,' indeed, is not difficult to believe. The Germaus are certainly not in a position to waste strength in minor'enterprises, and it need not be doubted that on this occasion they made a determined effort to break the French line at a vital point. As against failure in such an enterprise possession of the summit of a single minor hill will afford them little consolation'.

One interesting statement in the French report is that a majority of the German infantry engaged at Tahure and on the neighbouring front, .had come recently from Russia. Being made officially, the statement is presumably well founded, and, in conjunction with recent news from the Eastern theatre, it affords an encouraging! indication that the Germans are beginning to sensibly feel the weight of conducting a campaign on two main fronts, not to mention the third front, in the Balkans, to which, they are now devoting a certain amount of strength. . Sooner or later the wide extension of their battle lines must tell iheavily against the Germans. The weakness of such a- position as they now occupy has been perfectly well realised by their own statesmen and strategists. Bisiiauck's fear of a Campaign on two fronts is proverbial, and there is 110 doubt that 110 reflected the German' military mind in this matter. A London newspaper recalls that a talented German Staff officer. Count Yorck von Wartenburo, who lost his life in the Boxer campaign of 1900, wrote an interesting study of the life of the Emperor Napoleon, in the shape of a criticism of his career as an array commander. The Count made various contemptuous reflections on the errors of the conqueror of Jena-. In particular he denounced the folly of sacrificing military'to political considerations when once a war had been begun. Discussing the great campaign against Russia, he sharply reproved the folly of Napoleon in carrying on doubtful expeditions simultaneously at the opposite ends of Europe, with insufficient military reCriticism of this kind has an obvious application .t-o the position in which 'the Germans aro placed to-day. Political and military considerations must represent to the Germans two horns of a dilemma. Guided by purely military considerations, they would doubtless some time ago have contracted their operations on one front in order to concentrate effectively. on the other. The timo when such a policy was practicable has perhaps passed,. At all events, any considerable retreat, oven if deliberately made for the sake- of concentrating strength, would have had unfavourable political effects at home and abroad, and would ultimately have reacted upon the military prestige and strength of the Central Empires. An attempt to bully and dragoon the world into submission by a savage exertion of brute force carries its appropriate penalty. Tho Germans have been taught to believe that their armies arc all-conquering, and any resort, even if it is intended to be temporary, to defensive tactics, or to the strategy of retreating to conquer which has served other nations well, may be expected at thi3 stage of the war to work havoc upon their national organisation.

There are tentative' indications to-day that the Germans are now being compelled •to adopt a policy of restricting their efforts on the Russian front, which they might have adopted month 3 ago with better hope of profit? One message declares that the Germans have abandoned the hope of capturing Riga and wintering there, but the _ statement that a German • communique admits a withdrawal from the Missc River, eight miles from Riga, is of doubtful value, since another enemy • eomviunique_ in hand claims a minor success _in this region. However, the weight of evidence is that the Germans are slackening in , their efforts in the Baltic Provinces, and it is stated also that they are evacuating Kovel, a railway junction in southern Russia which represents to them a valuable advanced depot upon which to base an advance against Kieff. The truth of these reports has yet to be established, but if they are true their significance is unmisfcakeable. If the Germans fail to capture Riga their long campaign in the Baltic Provinces will, have been little better than a costly failure, and in Southern* Russia, where events have a. direct bearing upon the campaign in the Balkans, they would certainly not give ground save under irresistible compulsion.

The most arresting news in Hand relating, to the Balkans is in the shape of promises of vigorous actios by the Entente. As to the campaign the Serbs are still gradually losing ground. The AiisEro-Ger-mans arc progressing "on the northwestern frontier, on tho north and north-east, and must by this time be in possession of North-eastern Serbia, and practically ih touch with the Bulgarians. This means that unless Rumania disputes the passage of tho Danube, and there is no present indication that she intends to do so,_ the Aiisko-Gcrmahs are in a position to send forward supplies of any_ description into Turkey irrespective of the fact that a considerable section of the main railway north and south of Nish is still in Serbian hands. Further south the Bulgarians have _ gained such a hold on the main railway as must involve the almost total isolation of the Serbian northern armies from the Serbian and Allied forccs in South-eastern Serbia. It is not impossible, however, that tho position in this southern area may yet be materially improved even if some of the current predictions of action by the Entente, on a big scale arc discounted. .The. Serbs and their Allies seem to be developing a flank attack upon the Bulgarians thrown forward to the railway furthfer north and it is conceivable that they may succeed in clearing the line. ■ft * i-* +r Predictions of Entente action in the Balkans on a grand scale must speak for themselves. There is talk of iuly wmliotf a powerful ahny, another report states that a million

Russians arc moving towards Bulgaria, and mention is made also of further reinforcements being sent to Salonika. The Serbian Minister at Paris is quoted as stating that tho Serbs are now assured of effective co-operation, and will fight to the last man. If the EnltnVc. Powers are on tho eve of powerful action in the 'Near East they may not send any large force to Serbia, but may strike at the road to Constantinople much further cast, probably by landing in Turkey. An invasion of Turkey would offer* the best prospect of defeating the Austro-German Balkan enterprise as a whole, and would also relieve the pressure on Serbia.

A naval action of which the result is not vet known is reported in the Black Sea, the Goeben, Breslau and Hamidieh being pitted against a superior Russian squadron. The report is interesting in view of the possibility that the Russians may bo on the point of transporting an army to Bulgaria or Turkey, but if the enemy hope to obstruct any such enterprise they are more likely to rely on submarines than on surface ships. The Goeben, which by all accounts has been imperfectly repaired after suffering serious damage, is the only ship of any powfcr possessed by the Turks, and the Russians have a powerful battle squadron in the Black Sea, including a brand new super-Dreadnought, which should be able to account unaided for the Goeben and her consorts on this occasion,

Mr. Roosevelt has taken it upon himself to hold up England as a horrible example of what happens to a nation unprepared for war before the eyes of an America which is undoubtedly in that condition. As to the general justice of his comments upon British success and failure in the- war to date, it will be possible to speak more confidently after Me. AsquPth has redeemed his promise to review the position at length in the -House of Commons. Meantime there is every to believe that Mr. Roosevelt is wide of _ the facts in his assertion that British factories have utterly failed to turn out an adequate supply of artillery and munitions, and his statement that the British Army is inadequate is certainly incorrect since Lord Kitchener stated a few weeks ago that an army of the required size had been raised. If it lie objected that this is a mere quibble, since the problem of providing reinforcements demands continued,effort, there is still the comforting reflection that Lord Derby's recruiting scheme is achieving highly satisfactory results, and that the Dominions, as well as the Mother Country, aro throwing- large additional forces into the soale. On the whole it may safely be taken that Mr. Roosevelt's criticisms are normal in character as coining from that distinguished ex-resident of the White House, which is to say that they are far more sweeping than the facts warrant and in some details, at least, recklessly inconsistent with the facts. Mr. Roosevelt is above all things an extremist.